Consider yourself lucky if you’ve made it to Sunday without encountering a conspiracy theory about Kate Middleton’s health. In the event you took this week to *unplug* (and good for you), the Princess of Wales has been MIA from her royal duties since Christmas and underwent “planned abdominal surgery” in January. It didn’t seem like that big of a deal — until Prince William pulled out of a royal engagement this week, citing a “personal matter.” That’s when internet sleuths started speculating that things are not all right. Depending on your online habits, you may have seen speculation that the royal couple is breaking up. Or, that Kate’s recovering from a BBL. Or, growing out her bangs. Or…more nefarious things we don’t need to list here. (Here’s a crowd-sourced timeline of events, for those curious.) 

What’s noteworthy about this “Where’s Kate” conversation is: It’s not just the royals-obsessed who are weighing in. Everyone from the Barstool crowd to Redditors have wondered about her whereabouts and have become “Kate Middleton truthers” in the process. This was maybe inevitable, given the royal family’s history of keeping quiet on pretty major health issues. On Thursday, the palace tried to quiet the noise, saying they’d been “very clear from the outset” about Princess Catherine’s timeline and that she is “doing well.” But just like your husband when you say ‘I’m fine,’ people are not convinced. Kate, we just hope you weren’t at that Willy Wonka experience in Scotland.