"Katespiracy," a term the internet has dubbed speculation about Kate Middleton's whereabouts, has taken another bizarre turn.

It's been 80 days since Kate's last official public appearance. Kensington Palace said in a statement that the Princess of Wales' absence from the public eye is due to her recovery from a "planned abdominal surgery" on January 19. The official line from the palace is that she'll be back in action by Easter.
Still, speculation hit a fever pitch on Monday after Kate admitted to editing a photograph Kensington Palace released of her and her children for Mother's Day on Sunday. Her admission — a statement shared on social media — only poured more fuel onto the rumor mill fire.

Worse still, the photo-editing scandal coincided with the spread of a new conspiracy theory: that Kate's absence from the public is somehow connected to speculation Prince William had an affair with Sarah Rose Hanbury, the Marchioness of Cholmondeley, who is a friend of the Wales' with ancestral ties to the royal family.
Kensington Palace declined to comment. Meanwhile, through her lawyers, Hanbury said that "the rumours are completely false."