Fact Check: Kate Middleton Death Rumor Flooding Social Media Is Bogus

Kate Middleton's continued absence from public life has helped to spark a raging wave of conspiratorial rumors and baseless claims about the princess' whereabouts and well-being.

Beyond fleeting glimpses, Kate has been out of the limelight since Christmas following abdominal surgery. She is not expected to return to royal duties until after Easter.

Amid the speculation, social media has been awash with some of the most spurious rumors imaginable—including the falsehood that she has died.

The Claim

A TikTok by user jennalee2017, posted on March 11 and viewed 1.5 million times, included the headline ""I believe she's dead." – Kate Middleton's lawyer confirms what no one knew until now."

User jennalee2017 said: "Update on Kate Middleton from one of her attorneys. This is from her lawyer, Jeffrey. I believe she's unalive.

"Kate Middleton's lawyer confirms what no one knew until now. Now there's five attorneys. This is one of her attorneys, the one that she keeps around all the time.

"He said he's gonna be forced to report on it if he doesn't hear from her soon. I mean, it's not even me saying it now."

Another TikTok by user @kellyd268, posted on March 14, viewed 1 million times, included a post from X, formerly Twitter, that said: "🔥 BREAKING: Kate Middleton's lawyer has reportedly said he believes she is DEAD, adding that he will be forced to report on it if he doesn't hear from her soon. He also specifically mentioned Queen Camilla and said she "needs to be looked into".

"Wow! 😳"

Another TikTok by user NEWSMAN, posted on March 19, viewed 842,000 times, included a video that said "Attention to the latest statement about Kate Middleton's lawyer he has gathered courage because he says he can no longer tolerate more lies.

"Recently, several lawyers of Kate Middleton, about five in total, have also wanted to speak, especially now one of them has gathered the courage to tell the truth.

"The truth is that Kate Middleton's lawyer was also completely astonished after learning about the brutal lies that would have been told about his client, stating that it was unfair.

"But Kate Middleton already knew the whole truth about her lawyer, ensuring that for her the most important thing was to have him always close.

"Additionally, her lawyer Jeffrey wanted to ensure that everything they were saying about Kate Middleton was completely false.

"He also believes that she might have passed away and that's why the legal proceedings have been initiated."

The Facts

There is absolutely no merit to these claims. It appears to have come from a largely AI-generated content account called "from.uk8" which posted a video with the headline "I believe she's dead" on March 9, 2024. At a glance, most of this channel's content is made up of other fictional claims and stories about the royal family.

The video about Kate included no sources, references, or other corroborative report, simply saying it happened.

There are no public statements about Kate having a team of lawyers including a "Jeffrey" or a derivation of that name.

Royal family members do not have their own individual lawyers—and certainly not five of them. Instead the family is represented by Gerrard Tyrrell, of U.K. law firm Harbottle & Lewis.

Like many conspiracy theories, the bizarre rumors circulating about the Princess of Wales passing away rely on the absence of evidence rather than the presence of any corroborating details of any kind.

While the name Gerrard Tyrrell is exceptionally well known among the U.K's Fleet Street newspapers, to whom he has been author of countless legal letters over many years, he was a relatively unknown figure publicly until he was named by Prince Harry in a lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch's media empire.

The prince suggested Tyrrell was part of efforts to suppress his desire for justice in relation to his status as a phone hacking victim.

Harry's witness statement read: "My brother and I were also told by either the institution's solicitor, Gerrard Tyrrell of Harbottle & Lewis, or someone else from the institution that there was no possibility of either of us bringing a claim against NGN for phone hacking at that time."

The likelihood that such an important story or even a credible rumor would have originated from such a suspicious TikTok account is vanishingly thin, if not inexistent.

In addition, while Kate has been largely out of the public eye since Christmas to recuperate from abdominal surgery, Kensington Palace has addressed her absence saying that she would be unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter.

The Palace released a photo of Kate to mark Mother's Day earlier this month. While this was shrouded in controversy, after the photo was found to have been manipulated, the Princess issued a statement saying she was responsible for it.

Newsweek has contacted Kensington Palace for comment.

Earlier this week, other similarly false rumors about King Charles III spread on social media alleging, with no proof, that the monarch had died.

As Newsweek discovered, the story was sourced from Russian social media channels, amid another false claim that Buckingham Palace was preparing to release an "extremely important Royal announcement."

The Ruling

False.

There is no evidence to support this claim.

The source of the claim appears to be a particularly suspicious TikTok account that has published handfuls of other false claims about the royal family.

There are no sources, references or other information to corroborate this idea, including that Kate's lawyer had made any such accusation.

It is part of a series of fabrications about the royal family that have been published simply to attract cheap online attention.

FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team