Prince William hurt that Kate Middleton is being hounded like mom Princess Diana: royal expert

Prince William is having a tough time seeing his wife, Kate Middleton, being severely scrutinized like his late mother, Princess Diana, was, a royal expert claims.

Sunday Times royal editor Roya Nikkhah spoke about the tsunami of conspiracy theories swirling around Middleton’s abdominal surgery and recovery while appearing on “Good Morning Britain” Monday.

“Having seen his mother go through quite a lot of that, the hounding of his mother, I think he feels he is seeing elements of that being breached again in terms of the demands and screeches at his wife over her medical privacy, and that is hurting him,” she opined (via the Daily Mail).

William had a front-row seat to how the press hounded his mother, Princess Diana. Getty Images Diana died in a car accident while being chased by photographers. Getty Images

Host Susanna Reid asked whether the Prince of Wales is “sensitive” over the similarities between his wife and mom, prompting Nikkhah to reply, “He always has been, ever since he has been a child and since he has been with Catherine since university.”

Diana died in 1997 at the age of 36 in a car accident after being chased by paparazzi.

In the final years of her life, she had pleaded for less press scrutiny and more privacy, to little avail.

William’s estranged brother, Prince Harry, even shared in his 2023 memoir, “Spare,” that for a time he believed his mother had faked her death to avoid the nonstop press coverage.

Middleton has been under intense press scrutiny in the last couple of months. Samir Hussein/WireImage She has been absent since undergoing abdominal surgery in January. Getty Images

Middleton, for her part, has been under scrutiny since Kensington Palace announced in January that she had undergone a “planned” operation and would remain out of the spotlight until at least Easter.

The palace said at the time that it would only share “significant” health updates about the 42-year-old going forward rather than regular bulletins.

Social media users started spreading theories about Middleton’s whereabouts after William, 41, suddenly pulled out of attending his godfather King Constantine of Greece’s funeral service in late February, citing an unknown “personal” reason.

Middleton last made an official appearance on Christmas Day. Samir Hussein/WireImage The palace announced that she would not return to duties until after Easter. Getty Images

Things really went into overdrive when just weeks later the palace released a poorly Photoshopped snap in honor of Mother’s Day in the UK.

The image of Middleton surrounded by her three children — Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5 — was immediately dissected by online sleuths.

---

More must-see royals coverage:

How Prince Harry and Meghan Markle metPrince William and Kate Middleton’s relationship timelineRoyal family tree and line of succession

---

Hours later, major news agencies issued a “kill notice” and pulled the portrait from circulation over its obvious manipulations.

The following day, Middleton offered a rare apology online, explaining that she had been experimenting with photo editing.

Conspiracies abounded after the palace released a heavily Photoshopped image of Middleton. @princeandprincessofwales / Instagram She was reportedly spotted shopping over the weekend with William. Samir Hussein/WireImage

The princess has been photographed in public only twice since her surgery, though she was reportedly out and about in Windsor with her family this Saturday.

Eyewitnesses claimed to the Sun that Middleton and William stopped by a farm stand after watching their children play sports — though no one managed to sneak a photo of the recovering royal.

“After all the rumors that had been going ’round, I was stunned to see them there,” one spy said. “Kate was out shopping with William, and she looked happy and she looked well.”