If you’re wondering how Prince William feels about all these Kate Middleton conspiracy theories, the answer is…not great! Though honestly this is kinda a mess of the Palace’s own making (see: that photoshopped Mother’s Day pic).
Either way, William is over it—and royal expert Katie Nicholl tells Entertainment Tonight that “from the sources that I’ve spoken to that both William and Kate have been pretty shocked and genuinely surprised by the wild rumors that are circulating on the internet.
” Plus, “there’s a sense of frustration, possibly even anger, certainly on William’s part.”
Nicholl adds that the Prince of Wales is “frustrated, upset, and pretty angry” about specific conspiracy theories that Kate got botched cosmetic surgery or is in a coma.
“It’s been difficult for them. I think they’re trying to ignore as much as they can,” Nicholl says. “But, of course, this is a couple who have had to embrace social media. They’ve got an Instagram handle, they’ve got hundreds of thousands of followers. They certainly don’t have their heads in the sand. 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.”
Apparently there’s also frustration that the Farm Shop Video didn’t squash conspiracy theories, and instead fueled them—with people speculating the royals used a body double.
“The TMZ video really should have quashed all of the fevered speculation about the Princess of Wales, her health, her recovery, and it simply hasn’t,” Nicholl said. “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.”
Kate is expected to potentially soft launch herself back into the spotlight with an Easter Day walk, so maybe chatter will die down in a few weeks?