Royal Family Reportedly Furious Over False Kate Middleton Rumors

The British royal family is reportedly “very disheartened” amid backlash to recent reports that Kate Middleton wants the public to focus on her work rather than her outfits. After The Sunday Times cited a palace source who claimed the Princess of Wales, 43, wants the media’s focus to be on “really important issues” as she resumes full royal duties following her cancer battle, a source told In Touch Weekly that “the fact that it’s even being turned into an issue is just outrageous.”

“There’s a huge feeling amongst not just the royal family but also within all the people that work for them, that Kate can do no wrong, so of course everyone is appalled that she’s even being questioned over this,” the source said. “She’s being told by everyone to totally ignore the detractors and continue to do what makes her feel comfortable.”

The source added that “the fact that it’s even being turned into an issue is just outrageous, in a lot of people’s view,” and Prince William in particular “is especially incensed, he can’t believe after all she’s been through over the past year that anyone would dare try and make her feel bad, or like she’s made some sort of protocol mistake.”

The current controversy was sparked on Feb. 1 when a palace source told The Sunday Times’ royal editor, Roya Nikkah, that “there is an absolute feeling that it [the public work] is not about what the princess is wearing” and Middleton “wants the focus to be on the really important issues, the people and the causes she is spotlighting.” The newspaper also stated that the Palace would no longer release details of Kate’s outfits, a move that sparked outrage given the years-long public interest in the princess’ fashion, something that has been dubbed The Kate Effect.

A few days later, on Feb. 11, a Kensington Palace spokesperson clarified the reports, acknowledging that ”I have received numerous questions about a story regarding The Princess of Wales’s clothing and how Kensington Palace shares information about her outfits.” The spokesperson went on to deny The Sunday Times’ story, clarifying that “the comments that appeared in the article were from me, not The Princess of Wales” and “the comments that were reported should not be directly attributed to The Princess of Wales.” The source added, “To be clear, there has been no change in our approach to sharing information about Her Royal Highness’s clothing.”

Addressing the back-and-forth reports and backlash, In Touch’s source noted that “there’s literally no one in the family that’s more aware of protocol and always follows it to the letter” than Kate. They added that “this is all coming to the fore because of a desire to have more focus on the charity work she’s doing, so it speaks pretty poorly of the people that are questioning this, it’s very disheartening and Kate’s got full approval to just ignore the fuss and do as she pleases going forward.”