Princess Diana’s Brother Charles Spencer Worries About ‘Truth’ Surrounding Kate Middleton’s Health

The younger brother of the late Princess Diana, in an interview on Saturday, expressed worry about the health scare and whereabouts of the Princess of Wales Kate Middleton. During a sit-down with the British Broadcasting Corporation, Charles Spencer said, “I do worry about what happened to the truth,” referring to Kate’s much-speculated disappearance from public engagement.

In January, the 42-year-old underwent a “planned abdominal surgery” and has since been privately recovering at home. Kate sparked press hysteria and questions from the Royal watchers after a photograph that she shared on occasion of Mother’s Day was flagged as ‘altered’ by Meta.

Spencer admitted that he is worried about “what happened to the truth,” whilst also weighing in about the “scrutiny” that his sister the late Prince Diana, the first wife of UK’s King Charles III, was subjected to.

The press attention, that was faced by Diana, though, was "more dangerous" than the scrutiny surrounding the Princess of Wales, Spencer maintained in his interview.

The latter stressed that it was, in fact, a worrying trend; all the conspiracy theories that were circulating about Middleton. One of the most prominent aristocrats in the UK, Spencer, now 59, also unveiled candidly the trauma that he suffered when he was sent to a boarding school at the age of eight in a new memoir, A Very Private School.

“I was sexually abused as a child by an adult,” he stated, adding that his sister Diana went through her own phase of mental breakdowns, as he detailed whether press intrusion was more potent today than it was during Diana’s time.

“No, it was more dangerous back in the day. If I look back to 1997 and Diana’s death, the circumstances of her death were so shocking,” Spencer said.

The latter was commenting on the status of the “online conspiracies” compared with press intrusion in the modern world of social media.

Spencer was asked for an opinion concerning Kate’s recent disappearances and Kensington Palace saying in initial statement that she would not be making public appearances until “after Easter.”

“I think if I look back to ’97 and Diana’s death, I think the circumstances of her death [were] so shocking that it did make the industry that supports the paparazzi really consider more carefully what it couldn’t, not because they had a moral judgment but because it was unacceptable,” Diana’s brother maintained.

Diana died after her car crashed whilst it entered an underground tunnel in Paris while it was pursued by the press photographers.   

Diana’s two sons, Prince William, 41, but more particularly, Prince Harry, has been vocal about conspiracies surrounding Diana’s death, admitting to the media’s alleged role in her fatal accident.

“My mum was harassed throughout her life with my dad, but after they separated, the harassment went to new levels. I saw things, I experienced things. I learned things,” the 39-year-old said in the Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan.

Kate, who now faces a similar media trial, apologised last week for doctoring the image for Mother’s Day.

In her defence, the Princess of Wales said, “like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing.” She continued in the statement, “I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day.”

Spencer voiced a concern for Middleton, fearing that she risks suffering a breakdown, due to the press intrusion. Diana’s brother has been a staunch critic of British tabloids. He launched a fierce criticism of the press after his sister Diana’s death in 1997. Spencer delivered a much-talked-about controversial speech at Diana’s funeral, promising to protect her sons William and Harry from the “kind of intrusion” that their mother received from the press.

Spencer now loathed the treatment of Middleton by the British press as he looked through the circumstances surrounding her absence from public life with regard to the powerful and eloquent eulogy he had delivered at Diana's funeral. He has "an absolute hatred of injustice.” 

Following weeks of conspiracy theories about his nephew's wife, he warned: "I do worry about what happened to the truth.”

Kate’s much-discussed Mother’s Day photo controversy

Princess’ of Wales’ Kate Middleton’s Mother's Day photo was flagged by Instagram after multiple global photo agencies withdrew it over suspicion of manipulation. Things took a turn for worse for Middleton after Meta added a new warning to the picture of the Royal with her three kids, explicitly stating that it was “altered.” 

As users on social media speculated where Middleton could be, a text flashing under her apparently new social media picture read: ”Altered photo/video. The same altered photo was reviewed by independent fact-checkers in another post.” 

The warning added, that the “independent fact-checkers say the photo or image has been edited in a way that could mislead people, but not because it was shown out of context." Whilst sleuths pointed to 16 oddities in photo of the Princess of Wales, agencies including the Associated Press, Getty Images and Reuters pulled the photo. In the picture, Kate was seated with Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5. The controversy was sparked, particularly, as it was the first official picture of Princess Kate released following her abdominal surgery on Jan. 16.

After a formal apology, Prince Williams and Kate now plan to release a new family photo, presumably a more credible one, as the two have been reported to be “shaken and devastated” over the former flagged as ‘photoshopped.’

Amid all the furore, the Princess of Wales is also expected to address her health condition via public engagement, and might return to Royal duties as early as next month, reports suggest. She may be getting ready for her first royal engagement that is slated to put to rest the secrecy surrounding her health condition. 

Last month, as Prince William attended the high-profile BAFTA Film Awards in London, solo, he apologised for Kate’s absence. "I'm sorry Catherine's not here as well. She does love the BATFAs as well. All the [movies] I watch she watches with me, so we go through them and carefully watch them. I've done the fewest I've ever done before, annoyingly... I've had other things on my mind,” William said at the event.

On one other occasion, as he visited the Western Marble Arch Synagogue in London to make a remark about the Israel-Palestine conflict, Prince William referenced his absent wife, saying that she “joined him in his concern about the rise of global antisemitism since the October 7 Hamas attack.” “Both Catherine and I are extremely concerned about the rise of antisemitism. I'm just so sorry that any of you have had to experience that,” Prince William said.

It is also understood that amid the doctored photo frenzy, Prince William and Kate Middleton are  “debating” who the photographer would be as they plan to release a photo of Prince Louis’ sixth birthday celebration scheduled for next month.