Kate Middleton has been seen in public for the first time since undergoing abdominal surgery in December. The Princess of Wales was pictured being driven by her mother Carole near Windsor Castle, in grainy photographs published by celebrity gossip site TMZ.

After weeks of intense speculation around her health, the pictures have immediately gone viral. Last week, Kensington Palace was forced to respond to ongoing conspiracy theories around Kate Middleton’s health – which caused the #WhereIsKate to trend – after royal obsessives demanded answers on her whereabouts.

Kate Middleton has not been seen in public since Christmas Day, taking leave from her royal duties after being hospitalised at The London Clinic for 12 days for her surgery. At the time, Kensington Palace released a statement that she had left hospital and was ‘making good progress’ recovering at home and would return to public duties in Easter.

They requested privacy on behalf of the Princess, stating ‘The Princess of Wales appreciates the interest this statement will generate. She hopes that the public will understand her desire to maintain as much normality for her children as possible; and her wish that her personal medical information remains private.’

Now, the Ministry of Defence has announced that her first official royal duty will be at the Trooping the Colour on 8th June. Alas, speculation about her health has continued at rapid pace. Concerns about the princess escalated when Prince William dropped out of attending King Constantine of Greece’s memorial service in Windsor last week, which he was scheduled to give a reading at, due to a ‘personal matter’. Since then, people have shared so many ludicrous theories online, not just about her surgery but her marriage too, that the Palace chose to break its silence and respond to shut down the conversation.

In a statement to Page Six, Kensington Palace said: ‘We were very clear from the outset that the Princess of Wales was out until after Easter and Kensington Palace would only be providing updates when something was significant.’

Their repeated requests for privacy continue to fall on deaf ears, with the TMZ photographs the latest in an increasingly uncomfortable series of moves by tabloids and royal trolls alike.

The American factor is of course crucial here. These paparazzi shots were taken for a US outlet but have now been used by British publications too. It’s quite the shocking development, given how different our relationship with the royal family is compared to US fanatics that liken the royals to Hollywood celebrities for whom invasive paparazzi pictures are part and parcel of being famous. Certainly, British tabloids are not immune to salacious, irresponsible reporting on the royals, but when it comes to paparazzi shots like this, the clamour to see Kate at any cost – no matter how unwell she may be – feels reminiscent of an era we were meant to have learned from.

We’re of course referring to the way in which Princess Diana was hounded by paparazzi throughout her time as a Princess, and the devastating impact that wrought. In a world where one would hope we had learned from her death, the rampant desire to photograph Kate – or any royal for that matter – is uncomfortable to witness knowing how harmful such obsessions have been previously.

Beyond that, one must ask, does Princess Kate not deserve privacy? Royal or not, she’s recovering from a serious medical procedure and has been clear in her desire to be left alone. The intense unpicking of her medical history is irresponsible, as are the theories that the ‘real reason’ for her absence is related to her marriage to Prince William. All such speculation does is mount the pressure for her to return to work in order to settle the crowd of conspiracy theorists. Are these conspiracy theorists, who claim to be Kate fans, not concerned about the stress such speculation causes her at such a vulnerable time? How will they feel if her medical issue is publicly disclosed and is seemingly more serious than anyone thought? Certainly, before commenting publicly, we should be conscious of all potential factors around the Princess’ health and wellbeing.

Frankly, the clamour to photograph Kate right now is inappropriate – let her recover in peace.