Prince William has spoken out following weeks of speculation about his wife Kate Middleton, who is off work for medical reasons following abdominal surgery earlier this year

Prince William has broken his silence on the wild conspiracy theories surrounding his wife, the Princess of Wales.

Kate is currently off work following abdominal surgery. Speaking at the time of her surgery, Kensington Palace said she would be off until around Easter time and they would not be providing updates on her condition. She was seen for the first time earlier this week, when she was photographed out driving near her Windsor home with her mum Carole Middleton.

But amid all the speculation, a spokesman for the Prince of Wales told People magazine: “His focus is on his work and not on social media.” It comes after Kensington Palace hit out at the ” madness on social media ” since Catherine’s operation.

Prince William with his wife Kate ( 
Image:
Getty Images)
Royal aides have been reluctant to give a “running commentary” on her condition or recovery from abdominal surgery on January 16. Despite Kensington Palace announcing the future queen would step back from all official duties during a two-week hospital stay and a period of convalescence at home until after Easter, Kate’s long-awaited return was plunged into chaos yesterday when the Army announced she would appear at a Trooping the Colour rehearsal in June. Tickets were offered for sale online for what would have been the princess’ first officially-announced public engagement since her surgery.

Hours later the Ministry of Defence was forced to remove from the website any mention of the princess’ involvement after news of the June 8 run-through was not signed off by the palace. Royal officials were caught unaware by the announcement, leaving aides to insist they were solely responsible for confirming diary arrangements for the Prince and Princess of Wales

A Kensington Palace spokesman said: “The timelines provided on the Princess’ hospital stay and planned return to royal duties were very clear from the outset. Nothing has changed.” The palace reiterated a previous statement given last week saying: “The princess continues to be doing well.”

Meanwhile, Kate’s uncle Gary Goldsmith – who is currently appearing on the new series of Celebrity Big Brother on ITV1 – also hit out at wild conspiracy theories about the royal’s absence from the public eye – and says she needs “space” to recover. Asked what he makes of wild conspiracy theories surrounding his niece’s health, Gary said: “I think they should leave her alone right now because there’s a reason why they’re [family] not talking about it and they are giving her a little bit of space.

“I just think it’s fundamentally wrong and if it was happening to anybody else they would think to give them some space. But because Kate’s Kate, she does such an amazing job, there’s always interest in her. She’s the number one royal for a reason and I just beg people to give her some space.”

US gossip site TMZ obtained images of Catherine being driven in a 4X4 Audi close to Windsor Castle this week. It is believed that her mother Carole Middleton was driving the car and that the pair were taking the royal’s children to school. The last time Kate was seen in public was on Christmas Day when she joined the rest of the royals on their annual visit to Sandringham church.