Royals Whose Disappearance From The Public Eye Prompted Conspiracy Theories

Royal families around the world have been staples in the tabloids. In the internet age, scrutiny regarding princes and princesses has only intensified, with it seemingly being impossible for a member of the royal family to do anything without being written about or photographed. As a result, when a famous royal family member purposefully spends time out of the spotlight, the general public can't help but wonder what's going on. When an answer isn't forthcoming, gossip and hearsay are likely to appear online, and can quickly spin out of control.

When Kate Middleton disappeared from public life in January 2024 following an abdominal surgery, onlookers immediately developed wild conspiracy theories, and rumors were quick to spread. On February 29, 2024, the Los Angeles Times noted that the Princess of Wales had last been spotted 66 days prior, leading many royal fans to question what was going on. Kensington Palace refused to release any further details regarding the princess's well-being. "We were very clear from the outset," the palace said in a statement (via People). "That the Princess of Wales was out until after Easter and Kensington Palace would only be providing updates when something was significant."

Having an extended period of privacy turn into a conspiracy-ridden media spectacle seems to be commonplace for the royal family. In fact, there are plenty of examples of times when a royal's disappearance from public life has prompted rumors and conspiracy theories, which range from the hilarious to the ridiculous and the truly tragic.

Queen Elizabeth II's husband, Prince Philip, died on April 9, 2021, at the age of 99. However, long before his actual death, rumblings began that the Duke of Edinburgh had died, when he hadn't. In 2018, Town & Country reported on a slew of rumors about Prince Philip that had spread on social media, leading multiple news publications to prepare articles detailing what happens when a member of the royal family passes away. While the Twitter posts suggesting the prince had died turned out to be false, it showed just how easily social media users could be swayed by fake news.

When rumors of Prince Philip's death were ignited once again in 2020, Royal Central dismissed the false reports, reiterating that the duke had been out of the spotlight since he retired. The publication noted that the prince was, in fact, spending time at his Wood Farm property on the queen's Sandringham Estate. Having announced his retirement in 2017, it makes sense that Philip would retreat from the spotlight and not be seen at any official royal duties in subsequent years.

Unfortunately, the announcement of Prince Philip's death in April 2021 didn't stop conspiracy theories from circulating. Instead, QAnon allegedly shared theories, including the idea that the prince was executed, that he had died due to the COVID-19 vaccination, or that his death was a cover for illegal activity.

The world was shocked when news broke that Princess Diana had died on August 31, 1997, following a car crash in Paris, France. Along with a global outpouring of grief regarding the princess's death, several conspiracy theories began to circulate regarding how Diana died. While some alleged that she was murdered by the royal family, others suggested that her death was caused by deliberately inadequate medical care. Some even went as far as to purport that the princess didn't die in the crash and remained alive and well in hiding.

The queen's own comments on the tragic loss only seemed to stoke conspiracy theories. According to a 2015 unauthorized biography, "The Queen's Speech" by royal expert Ingrid Seward (via the Daily Mail), the queen reportedly said upon hearing of Diana's car accident, "Someone must have greased the brakes." With the monarch's alleged comments adding credence to the conspiracy theories, it's perhaps no wonder that people are still talking about Diana's death decades later.

Diana's son, Prince Harry, has also suggested that he wasn't always convinced that his mother was actually dead. "I just refused to accept that she was gone," Harry revealed in an interview with "60 Minutes." He also admitted to thinking that his mother had staged the accident so that she could leave the limelight and would later ask her sons to join her somewhere private. "Maybe this is all part of a plan," he remembered in the interview.

Queen Elizabeth II's uncle, Prince George, who was also known as the Duke of Kent, died in August 1942 at the age of 39 in an unexpected plane crash in Scotland while he was flying for the Royal Air Force. As well as devastating the royal family, Prince George's death caused many to wonder if something nefarious had taken place, especially as the crash was shrouded in mystery. Writing for the Daily Mail, royal expert Christopher Wilson revealed the lack of information about the crash may have been due to a cover-up by the royal family to try to hide the identity of one of the plane's passengers; the suggestion being that Prince George was accompanied by a mistress.

Another conspiracy theory suggested that Rudolf Hess, the deputy leader of the Nazi party and a close confidant of Adolf Hitler, was onboard the flight before its crash. Of course, this theory holds less weight. Although Hess had traveled to Scotland the previous year in May 1941 — in an attempt to broker a peace deal between the United Kingdom and Germany — there is no real evidence that he was on board Prince George's flight. Perhaps more importantly, Hess would have had to survive the flight, as his death didn't occur until August 1987, in Germany when he was 93.

The royal family announced that Kate Middleton and Prince William's second child, Princess Charlotte, had been born on May 2, 2015, at St. Mary's Hospital in London. The couple posed for photographs with their newborn baby outside of the hospital, with the Princess of Wales wearing a yellow floral dress by Jenny Packham. However, according to some conspiracy theorists, Princess Charlotte's birth was a lot more complicated than it may have appeared.

In May 2015, the Daily Mail reported that the internet was rife with theories regarding Middleton's pregnancy, with Russian sources allegedly suggesting that the princess was never pregnant to begin with. According to the publication, several individuals commented on a story about Charlotte's birth in the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper. The conspiracy theories ranged from the idea that she had hired a surrogate and wore a fake baby bump for public events, to the idea that Charlotte was born long before the date given to the public. Basically, no one believed that Middleton could possibly look so put together so soon, and the time she spent out of the spotlight following Princess Charlotte's birth only fueled the fire when it came to the conspiracy theories.

After marrying into the British royal family, Meghan Markle became one of the most hated celebrities on the internet, meaning that pretty much everything she did was placed under a huge amount of scrutiny. The reverse was also true, and when the former Duchess of Sussex disappeared from the spotlight, the tabloids ramped up their coverage of her. In January 2023, Markle's mere existence became the focal point of a number of articles, with journalists speculating about where the royal had been spending her time without making any public appearances. The New Zealand Herald was particularly worried when Markle failed to accompany her husband, Prince Harry, on the publicity tour for his 2023 memoir, "Spare," suggesting that this was very unlike the duchess.

In April 2023, The Telegraph expressed even greater concern about Markle because she appeared to have been absent from all public events and appearances for several months. The newspaper was particularly horrified that Markle would deign to miss King Charles III's coronation, and theorized on what the duchess had been doing. Basically, Markle can't win when it comes to the press. While her public appearances garner an obscene amount of online hatred, her disappearance from the public eye only generates further press.

Charlene Wittstock became a member of Monaco's royal family in July 2011 when she married Prince Albert II in a civil wedding ceremony. However, Charlene's life hasn't been a simple fairytale since she married a prince. Instead, she has found herself facing an inordinate amount of negative press, particularly when it comes to the status of her relationship.

Charlene, Princess of Monaco, disappeared from the public eye in May 2021 after returning home to South Africa. There, the princess developed a life-threatening health condition after contracting an ENT (ear, nose, and throat) infection, which prevented her from returning to Monaco for six months. As a result, Charlene reportedly wasn't able to see her children, twins Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, or her husband throughout her illness. After finally returning to Monaco in November 2021, the princess almost immediately left again due to her condition, this time to check in to a treatment facility in Switzerland. 

Charlene's absence from her family had already caused rumors to swirl, and the conspiracies ramped up a notch when she left again for a period of rehabilitation. During an interview with People, Prince Albert shut down the theories about his wife, saying, "Because I know there are rumors out there, let me say: This is not COVID." He continued, "And it's not cancer-related. It's not a personal relationship issue. And if you want to discuss another speculation, it isn't related to plastic surgery or facial work at all."

Mohammed VI, King of Morocco, acceded to the throne in 1999. Perhaps the strangest moment in the monarch's reign occurred in 2023 when The Economist published an article titled, "The mystery of Morocco's missing king." The article examined the king's extended absences from Morocco, which reportedly totaled as many as 200 days in 2022, leading onlookers to question where the royal had been during that time.

Even more surprisingly, the publication examined the king's close friendship with Abu Azaitar, a mixed martial arts champion whose Instagram posts highlighted his newly formed connection with the royal. Having been born in Germany, where he spent some time in prison, Azaitar moved to Morocco in 2018 and seemingly ingratiated himself with the king fairly quickly. The article cited a royal insider who claimed that Azaitar and his two German-Moroccan brothers had become regular fixtures at the palace. 

Meanwhile, the publication suggested that Mohammed VI's lifestyle allegedly became even more glamorous after he befriended the Azaitar family, with the group taking more vacations to decadent locations. Obviously, the king is allowed to have friends, but it's clear that some onlookers have begun to question his whereabouts, particularly as he reportedly spends more time outside of Morocco than he does at home. As for the nature of his disappearances, the details of Mohammed VI's plans remain private, which probably contributes to the conspiracy theories about his lifestyle sprouting up.

When Princess Diana died on August 31, 1997, Queen Elizabeth II was on vacation. The queen, Prince Philip, Prince Charles, and the two sons Charles shared with Diana, Prince Harry and Prince William, were staying at the secluded Balmoral Castle in Scotland, where they remained for several more days.

As the monarch didn't immediately return to London to meet with mourners who had gathered at the gates of Buckingham Palace, the tabloids started to put pressure on the royal family, questioning their absence at such a devastating time. In reality, the queen was reportedly trying to protect her grandsons during an excruciating period of grief, but the public demanded a response from the queen all the same.

It wasn't until September 5, 1997, that the queen made the journey from Balmoral to London and gave a televised speech to the nation regarding Diana's death. Despite meeting with royal mourners and paying tribute to the princess's life, her absence from the public eye — which was less than one week long — conjured multiple conspiracy theories. While some suggested that Diana's death had been planned, others theorized that the queen simply didn't care. In the end, all it took was a few days to stir up a plethora of rumors concerning the queen's reaction to Diana's death.

In February 2024, Buckingham Palace announced that King Charles III had been diagnosed with cancer, revealing that treatment for the condition would begin immediately. There was some degree of mystery surrounding the monarch's illness, with the palace's spokesperson revealing that Charles had not been diagnosed with prostate cancer, although he had been seeking treatment for an enlarged prostate at the time of his diagnosis. 

Because of the vague nature of the announcement, The Times suggested that many might automatically assume that the diagnosis is more serious than Buckingham Palace claimed. Additionally, not knowing what type of cancer the king had been diagnosed with added another layer of concern for onlookers. The Guardian, too, mused that the general public might wonder what would happen to the monarchy should King Charles III be incapacitated, particularly as it was impossible to know the true status of the monarch's health with any real certainty. Understandably, the king is allowed to have at least some privacy when it comes to his health, but that seemingly led royal commentators and people online to speculate about the monarch's absence from the public eye.

On January 17, 2024, an official statement from Kensington Palace revealed that Kate Middleton had been admitted to the hospital to undergo abdominal surgery. While it was confirmed that the princess' operation was not related to cancer, it wasn't long before the conspiracy theories started to erupt, especially when she all but disappeared from public life.

It was noted that, before her surgery, the Princess of Wales was last spotted in public on Christmas Day when she attended church with her family. The next time anyone saw her was in a very blurry paparazzi picture, which was released on March 4, 2024, and allegedly showed the princess in a car with her mother, Carole Middleton. However, the royal family's seeming refusal to comment on Middleton's condition, combined with King Charles III's recent diagnosis, only seemed to make the general public ask more questions.

Clare McHugh, a royal historian, spoke to Time about the royal family's decision to remain so aloof regarding the princess's health when Prince William and Middleton generally shared regular updates in the past. "That's why William and Kate's reticence about what's going on with them is odd," she told the publication. As for all of the conspiracy theories regarding Middleton, they have ranged from fairly innocuous suggestions that the princess may have gotten unflattering bangs or started dating Pete Davidson, to the idea that her health condition may be fairly serious.