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It's officially day 11 since the Kate Middleton conspiracy theories started to spiral out of control, but to Prince and Princess of Wales, the days since Middleton's Mother's Day Photoshop scandal have felt like an entire lifetime. Royal expert Katie Nicholl had a few insights as to how the couple is doing at the moment and short answer: They are not happy.
"William and Kate have been pretty shocked and genuinely surprised by the wild rumors that are circulating on the internet," Nicholl told Entertainment Tonight.
The palace has stated that Middleton is currently in recovery from abdominal surgery until Easter, but rumors online have claimed everything from Brazilian butt lift surgery to turbulence in her and William's marriage, that has in turn resulted in her lack of presence in the public eye. Nicholl directly addressed the claims, and noted that the Princess is frustrated by the rumors.
"I think the suggestions that [Kate's] had, well, anything as crazy as a bad haircut that she's needed to grow out to cosmetic surgery that's gone wrong or people speculating that possibly she's in a coma, I think that has made the Prince of Wales frustrated, upset and pretty angry as well," Nicholl says. "It's been difficult for them. I think they're trying to ignore as much as they can ... They are aware of what is being written and what is being said. And I think there's a sense of frustration that they can't bring an end to it."
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As William and Kate have their pulse on social media, they are largely knowledgeable about what's going on, and are smart enough to know that the rumor mill won't come to can end — not until until Kate is "back to her normal, happy, healthy self."
Nicholl also addressed the rumors about Middleton having a body double in the spouse's video of them shopping at a market near their home. While not a confirmation, the royal expert noted that the video should have put rumors about the Princess' health to rest.
"The TMZ video really should have squashed all of the fevered speculation about the Princess of Wales," she explained. "Her health, her recovery, and it simply hasn't. You would have thought that the video, which showed her walking at quite a brisk pace, carrying a shopping bag, looking pretty healthy and happy, and chatting in a very relaxed way with her husband, would have just dampened out all of the rife speculation that has really been circulating on the internet for weeks now. But, unbelievably, many of those theories are still circulating on the internet."
Easter, you can't come fast enough.
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