Ever since the palace confirmed that Kate Middleton had undergone surgery, many had been engrossed in an aimless routine — indulging, cooking, and spreading intrusive rumors about the cause of her operation, especially since King Charles III has been so forthcoming with details about his health.
The period immediately after her surgery has seen the rise of a zillion conspiracy theories about Kate — of which, some managed to tick off Prince William — that dissected everything from her recent public appearances, to the Royal Family’s justified unwillingness to share more about her health. One such theory is that the Princess of Wales underwent the surgery because she suffers from Crohn’s disease.
What is Crohn’s disease and why are many sure that’s what ails Kate Middleton?
As explained by Mayo Clinic, Crohn’s is a “type of inflammatory bowel disease” wherein a person suffers from symptoms like abdominal pain, severe diarrhea, weight loss, malnutrition, and fatigue. It is a painful condition that comes with the risk of becoming life-threatening in some cases.
The claims that what incapacitated Kate was Crohn’s rely on many points — Kate stepping back from public appearances completely, Prince William taking a temporary break from his royal duties to support her, the surgery being evidently serious as she was in the hospital for two weeks and her return to her royal duties only possible after Easter (which fits the recovery period for Crohn’s surgery), etc.
A common treatment for those suffering from the disease, the surgery for Crohn’s sees the removal of the damaged part of the digestive tract, while the portions that remain healthy are connected again. Speculations that Kate did undergo the operation for Crohn’s have picked up pace again after the princess came forward to reveal that she was diagnosed with cancer after her “major” abdominal surgery for a “non-cancerous” condition.
“The surgery was successful. However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present. My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment.”
Like King Charles, Kate has also decided, at least for the time being, to not share the kind of cancer she has been diagnosed with. But given the status and timing of her diagnosis, it is highly probable that she has stomach cancer or maybe, colorectal cancer in case she did have Crohn’s — it is known that those suffering from the latter run face the increased risk of colon cancer.
The disheartening update comes in the wake of the many conspiracy theories that continue to swirl about Kate’s absence, her and Prince William’s marriage, and the monarchy as a whole. The revelation also explains why she needed more time than normal to recover from a surgery that was labeled as non-threatening — after the diagnosis, when she had recovered from the operation, the princess began a course of preventative chemotherapy. She is currently in the early stages of that treatment and is focused on “making a full recovery.”
