Los Angeles — Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, was spotted in public on Monday for the first time since she underwent abdominal surgery in mid-January, according to photos published by U.S. outlet TMZ. Princess Kate, 42, whose husband Prince William is heir to the British throne, has been recovering mainly at their home in Windsor, west of London, since leaving hospital on January 29.
Photos published by TMZ showed Kate wearing sunglasses while being driven in a car. The celebrity news site said they were taken Monday near Windsor Castle.
CBS News, like most U.K. media outlets, from tabloids such as the Daily Mail and The Sun to national broadcaster BBC and other television networks, is not publishing the clandestinely snapped photos.
"We are not running them out of respect for her privacy whilst she recovers from her operation in the timescale we were given for it," ITV News royal editor Chris Ship said in a social media post.
The sighting comes as social media has been alight with conspiracy theories over the famously hard-working princess's absence from the spotlight. The speculation mounted last week when Prince William pulled out of a public appearance at a memorial service for his late godfather, vaguely citing a "personal matter."
The palace said the Prince of Wales' absence was not related to his father King Charles III's ongoing cancer treatments, but it did not clearly separate his decision from Kate's ongoing recovery, though it said she was continuing to recover well.
Kensington Palace clearly said soon after her surgery that Kate would be "unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter." It also said her surgery was not related to cancer.
There was word from Britain's Defense Ministry on Monday, meanwhile, of Kate's first expected public appearance since her surgery. Britain's PA news agency said Kate would attend the annual Trooping the Colour ceremony in central London on June 8. The royal family has announced no future public events for Kate since she was admitted to the hospital.
Kate's hospitalization came almost simultaneously with the announcement that the king had been admitted for surgery for a benign prostate condition, and subsequently diagnosed with an unrelated cancer.
King Charles, 75, has also withdrawn from public duties during his treatment, though he has attended church services and held his weekly audience with the prime minister.