Inside the hardest year of Kate’s life: From trolls’ conspiracy theories amid cancer diagnosis to THAT Mother’s Day photograph – as the Princess of Wales turns 43 today we look back at all the twists and turns of her brutal year

Since the then Kate Middleton joined the Royal Family, her birthday is usually a peaceful affair as it happens in the ‘downtime’ month of January, which is kept mostly free for diary planning following a busy period of high-profile events over Christmas.

But today, as the Princess of Wales celebrates her 43rd birthday, she will be looking back on a year that her husband William described as the ‘hardest year in my life’.

That is because a week after her birthday on January 17, 2024, a statement from Kensington Palace announced she had undergone abdominal surgery.

It would be just the beginning of a tumultuous year of health concerns for the princess which became more serious when she announced in March she had been diagnosed with cancer –  putting an unprecedented strain on the entire Royal Family.

Here MailOnline looks back at all the twists and turns in Kate’s brutal year, and how with the support of her family she has managed to get through it all. 

The princess’s tough year began in January when she was secretly admitted to The London Clinic for abdominal surgery.

Kensington Palace said at the time she had ‘planned abdominal surgery’ and estimated that she would spend the next tento 14 days in hospital.

Specifics about the nature of the operation were, and remain, private, although aides let it be known her condition was ‘non-cancerous’.

Entirely understandably, the Princess of Wales wished to keep her recovery as private as possible, according to royal author Robert Hardman in his new book Charles III. 

But in the absence of an explanation or updates, a series of conspiracy theories began to take flight around the world.

Spanish TV reported that the princess was in a coma, while a rumour emerged from South America stating that she was either in hiding following a disastrous haircut or failed cosmetic surgery.

Other trolls and conspiracy theorists have used her absence and the lawlessness of social media to spread deeply sinister and highly libellous claims. 

A community on the widely popular internet forum Reddit set up a ‘KateMiddletonMissing’ section where they discussed their various suspicions.

And a #WhereIsKateMiddleton hashtag also began to trend every day allowing conspiracy theorists to share their thoughts with other enthusiasts. 

The swirling theories began to get more bewilderingly and fanciful, which would have been extremely distressing for the pPrincess and her children Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, nine, and Prince Louis, six.

However the family were given a brief respite from the internet focus when King Charles announced on February 5 that he had an undisclosed form of cancer.

But it would return with a vengeance on March 4 after Kate was photographed by paparazzi for the first time since her operation while she was being driven near Windsor Castle by her mother, Carole Middleton.

The photos were taken shortly before 9am, suggesting Kate was doing her best to soldier on and continuing to take her children on the school run. 

The pictures were published by US gossip website TMZ but not in the UK after Kensington Palace appealed for her to be able to recuperate in private. 

However in spite of the increasingly deranged speculation about her whereabouts, the Waleses decided to stick to their original strategy with William continuing to go about his official engagements while Kate recovered privately.

Their strategy was in contrast to the King’s who was being more open than any monarch in history with his health issues.  

‘No constitutional responsibility sits on the Princess of Wales and never will,’ a senior aide to the King told Hardman. 

‘She is not in the line of succession. She plays an absolutely vital supporting role to the Prince of Wales and in bringing up their children who are in the line of succession. 

‘But she herself is not. Her situation is different and it can be treated differently.’

After almost two weeks of hysteria and wild speculation, the ‘Where is Kate?’ brigade had an answer of sorts on March 10 as Kensington Palace released a photograph of Kate and her children.

But instead of calming the speculation down, it sent the online sleuths into overdrive due to inconsistencies with the photograph due to minor editing.

Some had spotted small inconsistencies such as a missing section of a child’s sleeve or the blurring of a knee – revealing that the photo had undergone minor editing prior to release. 

The Waleses and their staff were ‘astonished’ by what happened next, according to Hardman. 

The world’s four main international photographic agencies issued a ‘kill notice’, industry jargon for retracting a photograph.

‘At closer inspection, it appears that the source has manipulated the image,’ Associated Press announced, declaring that the photograph had thus fallen short of its standards. Getty, AFP and Reuters said similar.

It was deemed an oddly exaggerated, almost performative, response, which some commentators think came from the industry’s concerns about the threat of artificial intelligence (AI) to the integrity of mainstream photography.

If there was frustration from William and Kate that the media should be making quite such a meal of a well-intentioned, homespun gesture, there was no time to dwell on it.

A Kensington Palace staffer told Hardman they are the ‘final decision-makers’ who have agency in everything.

So instead of a more standard royal statement, the princess issued a first-person apology via Twitter/X, fessing up that it had been her who had made the tweaks.

‘Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,’ she wrote. ‘I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused.’

It seemed to calm down the social media firestorm momentarily, but stories about the princess continued to pile up after a grainy video of her shopping at the Windsor farm shop surfaced online.

Meanwhile the princess would have been further distressed to hear the news that there was a report of a possible data breach involving the princess’s hospital records. 

And then, all the hysteria and speculation came to a screeching halt at 6pm on March 22 when the princess appeared in a pre-recorded video message to say she was undergoing treatment for cancer.

She calmly outlined the story of her ordeal as she sat on a wooden bench surrounded by daffodils wearing a simple striped jersey and jeans. 

‘It has been an incredibly tough couple of months for our entire family,’ she said, explaining that the ‘major abdominal surgery’ had been 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.’

In cyberspace the conspiracy theorists beat a headlong retreat.  

Hollywood actress Blake Lively was one of the first to express regret, while Left-wing journalist Owen Jones said he felt ‘ashamed’ for the speculation.

Kensington Palace staff refused to give details of the cancer, or of the treatment. It was officially confirmed that the chemotherapy had started in late February.

It became commonly agreed that the princess’s heartbreaking video had been an emotional moment for the whole country.

Delivered in her own words, it said on her good days, it was ‘a joy’ to engage in school life and even a little work. 

She said that she and Prince William explained the situation to their children after the ‘huge shock’ of her diagnosis. 

The family released Kate’s video announcement to the Press a few hours after the school closed for Easter so that her children would not immediately face questions in the playground after the news was made public.

‘George is ten now and can’t be shielded from any of this,’ a palace source told The Sunday Times.

‘Once it’s at the school gate and in the school playground, he won’t be able to avoid it.’

After the release of the video, Kate was able to spend three weeks with the children and William at the family’s sanctuary Anmer Hall, a Georgian country house which is part of the Sandringham Estate.

A source close to William told The Times how losing his mother when he was only 15 has made him go into ‘protection mode’ as his children now face their own mother’s health being brought up in public.

The family decided to miss the traditional royal Easter Sunday service and instead focused their energy on spending time together.

Kate said she had told them she was doing ‘well and getting stronger every day’ and that she was ‘focusing on the things that will help me heal’.

She also revealed that she was comforted by having her husband by her side and they were doing ‘everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family’.

It wasn’t until the Trooping the Colour ceremony on Saturday, June 15, that the Princess of Wales eventually returned to royal duties for the first time in six months. The last time she had been seen in public was Christmas Day.

After the parade, the family made the traditional appearance on the Palace balcony, with all eyes on the Princess of Wales. 

Kate relaxed as she smiled and waved to the delighted crowds, in what was a triumphant comeback to public life. 

But alongside royal duties, Kate’s condition caused her to miss out on important family trips.

When William took the children to see the pop star Taylor Swift on June 22, Kate stayed at home.

However the next month Kate made a second public appearance at Wimbledon alongside Princess Charlotte, where they received a standing ovation as she presented the men’s fFinal trophy to Carlos Alcaraz.

She would next be seen in a joint video with the Prince of Wales to congratulate Team GB on their performance at the Paris Olympics.

Over the summer, the couple and their young family have enjoyed a ‘fabulous’ summer at Anmer Hall in Norfolk.

They spent time outdoors – cycling, sailing, and hanging out with family and friends – that put colour back in all their cheeks.

One insider told the Daily Mail’s royal editor Rebecca English: ‘They made a clear and conscious decision to take time out as a family this summer. 

‘Seeing them both looking so happy and relaxed with each other and so comfortable in each other’s company tells you a lot about where they are.

‘What doesn’t break you, makes you stronger’ is as true for the royals as it is for the rest of us.

The experience also strengthened them as a unit, with one source telling English: ‘They’ve always been a team, and what they have been through this year has only cemented that.’

As always she hid her suffering well, but those who know her are keen to emphasise just what a tough time it has been.

‘I don’t think people realise how much she has gone through behind the scenes and for how long, far longer than anyone actually appreciates,’ one said to English.

‘She’s an incredibly strong woman, but she really has been through the wars.

‘Her treatment and recovery is still a priority and will be ongoing for some time to come.’

In August she joined William, and the King and Queen at Crathie Church, near Balmoral Castle, in Scotland during a summer break in the Highlands.

Then on September 9, the Princess of Wales revealed she had finished her course of ‘preventative chemotherapy’ and planned to undertake a ‘light programme’ of public engagements over the coming months.

She delivered a personal message to the nation in a stunning three-minute long video showing her and William in Norfolk with their children which was shot in August. 

Kate said the experience had reminded her and William to ‘reflect and be grateful for the simple yet important things in life, which so many of us often take for granted. Of simply loving and being loved.’ 

It showed the family playing happily on the beach and in the woods, William and Kate lying entwined on a blanket, hugging their children – and kissing. 

Kate then returned to work at Windsor Castle, focusing on her early years work, and then in late September met aides to focus on her annual Christmas carol service.

In October she made a surprise visit to Merseyside with William to meet the bereaved families of the Southport stabbing victims. 

And then in November she attended the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall alongside the King and her husband.

The next day, on Remembrance Sunday she led the nation alongside the King and the Prince of Wales in remembering Britain’s war dead.

Wearing a black, military-style jacket with epaulettes, she could be seen wearing her traditional three poppies as she joined the nation in two minutes of silence. The touching tribute honours her great-grandmother’s three brothers, who all lost their lives in the First World War.

Kate watched the Whitehall event from above, on the nearby Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office balcony in central London, alongside Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh.

The princess appeared emotional as she quietly closed her eyes in remembrance, bowing her head in respect. 

In a touching moment following the ceremony, the Duchess of Edinburgh could be seen laying a tender hand on her shoulder as they left the balcony together.

The next big set piece event Kate took part in was her Christmas carol concert at Westminster Abbey, broadcast on Christmas Eve.

The Together at Christmas concert, which took place at the Abbey earlier in December was aired at 7.30pm on ITV1 and ITVX. 

It was the fourth time the royal has held the annual festive concert – but this year’s was particularly poignant as Kate continued her recovery from cancer.

Kate’s impassioned voiceover thanked ‘inspiring’ people ’embracing those in need’, saying: ‘This carol service is a heartfelt celebration of everyone of you.

‘It’s a reminder that at Christmas and throughout the year we must all shine for each other because in times of joy and sadness, we are all each other’s light’.

Kate has been described as being ‘hands-on’ over every aspect of the service, including holding regular planning meetings at Windsor ahead of filming.

On the day the service was filmed, the princess arrived on her own at 4pm to view the abbey and oversee last-minute arrangements.

The event went off without a hitch and was widely acclaimed by royal watchers and fans.

Kate’s final public appearance of the year was when she greeted the crowds outside St Mary Magdalene Church at Sandringham on Christmas Day.

Kate was a sight to behold as she walked alongside William, their children, as well as King Charles and Queen Camilla at the Norfolk estate. 

There she met fans who had been queuing since the night before, with several people eager to wish Kate and the Royal Family a merry Christmas after what has been a particularly difficult 12 months. 

All eyes were on Kate as she looked as positive and radiant as ever, bearing no indication of the challenging year behind her.