While the details surrounding Kate Middleton's surgery are still shrouded in secrecy, a royal insider claimed she isn't healing as quickly as everyone had hoped.
"Kate is struggling to eat," a source told RadarOnline.com of how the Princess of Wales is faring after undergoing an "abdominal" procedure in January.
"She continues to recover after the surgery, but the recuperation has been more difficult than expected," the source added.
Since the mother-of-three, 42, is already thin, the situation has become "a cause for major concern behind palace walls."
When the palace first announced the brunette beauty's health woes in January, it was stated that she wouldn't be returning to her public duties until after Easter. However, since she hadn't made a single appearance since around Christmas, people began to air out their worries, which sparked several conspiracy theories that something more serious was going down within the monarchy.
The gossip lead to the palace releasing an official statement in late February.
"We were very clear from the outset that the Princess of Wales was out until after Easter and Kensington Palace would only be providing updates when something was significant," the message said.
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Earlier this March, a photographer caught Carole Middleton driving around her eldest daughter, but since the snap was grainy and the woman in the passenger seat — who was wearing sunglasses — had some facial differences from Kate, social media users accused the woman of being a body double.
The family tried to end the speculation when marking Mother's Day in the U.K. on March 10, as the Prince William and Kate uploaded a new photo to their Instagram page — however, the image was taken down by several outlets after deducing that the picture was manipulated.
Kate then issued a clarification on the snap — which featured herself and her three kids — admitting she edited it.
"Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused," she stated. "I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother's Day."
Over this past weekend, it was reported that the parents-of-three stepped out to a market together — but there haven't been any photos of the two from the outing.
“After all the rumors that had been going 'round, I was stunned to see them there. Kate was out shopping with William, and she looked happy and she looked well," an alleged eyewitness told a news outlet. "The kids weren’t with them, but it’s such a good sign she was healthy enough to pop down to the shops."