Kate Middleton & Prince William Divorce Chatter Amps Up With Messy Valentine's Day Display

After years of divorce rumors swirling, William, Prince of Wales, and Catherine, Princess of Wales, have made yet another PR misstep that has folks wondering about the state of their relationship. The couple's official Instagram posted a photo in honor of Valentine's Day. While there's nothing about this on its own that should fuel talk about a potential split, some details of the post didn't appear sincere to the public and led to questions about what's really going on behind closed palace doors.

Based on what we've seen over the past few years, it's clear that PR isn't Kensington Palace's strong suit. The public communication surrounding Kate's cancer diagnosis and treatment fostered a storm of confusion and concern among royal fans that could have been easily prevented. Then, six months after she announced her cancer diagnosis, Kate shared a video montage of her and her family to tell the world she was finished with chemotherapy. To many, this video felt phony, contrived, and like something was amiss. A body language expert even told us that William couldn't hide his discomfort alongside Kate in the video, which almost surely contributed to the uneasy feel of the whole message. Now, the couple has revisited the controversial video, posting a screenshot from it on Instagram. The image shows William kissing Kate on the cheek while sitting on a blanket in the woods. And some royal fans aren't buying the message at the core of the post.

Alongside the photo of Prince William and Kate Middleton getting cozy in the grass was a caption that included nothing but a red heart emoji. The nature of the photo and the caption were likely an attempt on the Wales' part to seem more like a typical, down-to-earth couple celebrating Valentine's Day. Still, it didn't land that way for some. Instead, it inspired questions. Why doesn't the pair have a more recent photo to post than a still from a video they shared five months ago? Why revisit a video that received mixed feedback, at all? 

In the Instagram post itself, the royal couple received plenty of love from their followers. On the other hand, the post only seemed to exacerbate the scandalous rumors surrounding William and Kate's relationship on X, formerly Twitter. "They are not 13 this is stupid to even look at," one user said of the V-day post. Another sarcastically commented, "Totally spontaneous picture am I right? Love when I take my private guards for a photo [op] in an apparent empty forest." Someone else asked, "Do they not live together, or why are you sharing old catalogue pictures?" Evidently, folks' skepticism about the state of William and Kate's marriage isn't going away without real transparency with the public. And, no matter how relatable they try to seem, overly curated, forced social media posts are only making matters worse.