12 March 2024 , 10:46
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It has not been an easy couple of months for Princess Kate, who wanting to recover from her health troubles in private, had disappeared off the grid almost entirely - only to face huge amounts of wild speculation online about the status of her health.
But that isn't all the Princess of Wales has had to contend with recently, with her 'black sheep' maternal uncle - Gary Goldsmith - making his explosive television debut on Celebrity Big Brother, and the chaos caused by a photo released by Kensington Palace to mark Mother's Day being recalled by photo agencies on the grounds that they suspected the image was manipulated.
The following day, a statement was released on William and Kate's social media channels, signed by the princess personally, apologising for the "confusion" caused by her "amateur" attempts to edit the photograph. However, Kensington Palace has refused to release the original, unedited image, leaving room for further speculation about exactly what alterations were made to it.
Amongst all the chaos and her health difficulties, there is one person who is likely to have been Kate's rock during a challenging time and has acted as her "strength and stay" the way Prince Philip once did for the late Queen Elizabeth - her mother Carole Middleton.
Carole has likely been Kate's rock, claims expert (REX/Shutterstock)
Kate and Carole are known to be close (Getty Images)Jennie Bond, the former royal correspondent for the BBC, told OK Magazine that Carole will likely have been the one to help Kate the most in recent weeks, and the entire Middleton family is known to be very close.
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"Carole has been there at Catherine's side, helping her through the trauma of a serious operation. It's what every mother does – wrap her poorly little girl up in cotton wool, even when she's a fully grown woman.
"It doesn't matter who you are, when your health breaks down, there is no one quite like your mum to help you feel better. I'm sure she is also a very important figure in the children's lives, too. She is the only real granny they have, so she has seen a great deal of them ever since birth and is a vital anchor for them... especially when things get tricky."
Bond added that the brief appearance of Carole's younger brother on reality TV will only have made matters worse for Kate as she tries to recover in peace: "She must be feeling fragile both physically and mentally with all the chatter and the conspiracy theories doing the rounds. Gary Goldsmith has certainly not helped matters by boasting that his 'mouth runs away with him'".
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