Archbishop of Canterbury says Kate Middleton’s conspiracy theories are nothing more than ‘old-fashioned village gossip’ – as Keir Starmer urges public to ‘speak out’ and lay Princess of Wales to rest

The Archbishop of Canterbury has called conspiracy theories about the Princess of Wales nothing more than ‘old-fashioned village gossip’ – while Keir Starmer urged the public to ‘speak out’ and leave her alone.

Online speculation has spread in recent weeks about the whereabouts of Kate, 42, as she continues to recover from abdominal surgery, with palace aides saying they would not comment on her recovery.

However, the Princess was captured on camera on Saturday by a member of the public happily walking around with Prince William outside the Windsor Farm Shop and reportedly looking ‘super relaxed’.

Conspiracy theories about Kate have spread like wildfire since her outing this weekend, with some claiming the images were not of Kate but instead a lookalike of the royal family.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has condemned the ‘gossip’ and said speculation about the princess’s health is ‘wrong’.

He told Times Radio: ‘I think we are obsessed with conspiracy and have little appreciation of the humanity of those caught in the glare of the news.

“People should have the opportunity to be sick, have surgery, whatever it is, and live their lives in peace without people demanding they prove something every other day.”

He added: ‘It’s extremely unhealthy. It’s just old-fashioned village gossip that can now travel around the world in seconds and we should turn away from that.

“Gossip like this is wrong.”

Sir Keir also urged the public to stop speculating about Kate’s health, telling them to ‘leave her alone’.

Asked if he feels sorry for Kate, he told Channel 5’s Jeremy Vine: ‘Yes. I think we should leave her alone.

“She has had a difficult operation and deserves privacy.”

He added: “We just have to leave her alone… That’s not really a political response, it’s a human response, as a father and as a human being.”

It had been hoped that the video would allay concerns about her health and discredit the bizarre, baseless and hurtful conspiracy theories being spread about her online.

A royal source told the Telegraph: ‘Finally everyone can calm down.’

However, the theories continue to spread now that the video has been published.

Among the speculation spread by cruel trolls is that the princess has died, or is using a body double or even her sister Pippa as a replacement. Unkind provocateurs have even suggested that she is in a coma or being simulated with AI.

The theories went crazy after publishing a photo on her official social media channels for Mother’s Day, when it became clear that the photo had been altered using Adobe Photoshop.

Several photo agencies issued rare ‘kill’ notices for the photo as it had been substantially altered – with online wannabe detectives pointing out the flaws in the photo, which Kate said she edited herself.

Matters did not improve when photo agency Getty Images said this weekend that an image of Queen Elizabeth II sitting with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, also taken by Kate, had been “digitally enhanced at the source.”

And despite The Sun obtaining a video of William and Kate happily walking through the Windsor Farm Shop car park, social media remains unhappy that she is making a good recovery.

X, formerly Twitter, is flooded with “verified” users posting barely credible theories about Kate.

Kate has been working from home on an early years project hailed as her ‘life’s work’ as she recovered from abdominal surgery, it was reported today.

The Princess launched the Royal Foundation Center for Early Childhood (RFCEC) Shaping Us project in January last year, aiming to highlight the importance of early childhood development in children.

Kensington Palace has confirmed that Kate will continue to work on the project while she recovers at home; the Center has funded a trial of a baby observation tool for health visitors to monitor young people’s social and emotional development.

It comes as three London Clinic employees under investigation by management over claims they tried to access Kate’s personal medical records are believed to have been suspended.

Medical records are ‘readily available’ to doctors and nurses at the prestigious hospital where a staff member allegedly tried to look up details about the princess, a Care Quality Commission report has revealed.

But CQC inspectors concluded that patient files had been stored ‘securely’ at the London Clinic where Kate had her planned abdominal surgery and spent 13 days in January.

Their report also praised staff for treating patients with ‘compassion and dignity’ and respecting their ‘privacy and dignity’.

It revealed that the unannounced inspection was carried out in June 2021 after the CQC ‘received information that raised concerns about the safety and quality of service’.

The report added: ‘These concerns arose from several never-events and serious incidents and numerous whistleblowers around staff and culture.’