Like the movie Gone Girl—everyone has been trying to find out where Kate Middleton went. 

Before her prolonged absence, Kensington Palace stated that she would undergo abdominal surgery, be fully recovered, and return to her duties: “The surgery was successful and it is expected that she will remain in hospital for ten to fourteen days, before returning home to continue her recovery. Based on the current medical advice, she is unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter.”

However, this did little to stop people from drawing their own conclusions on what would have happened to the Princess. BBL? Murdered? Anger because of a potential affair? “I remember being very intrigued,” said Sophia Flower. She had no idea what would have possibly happened and was interested to hear all the conspiracy theories. “My personal favorite one was that she was recovering from a BBL and could not be seen because of that.” 

To stop the swath of rumors, pictures were sent out of Middleton with her children; after further investigation, everyone could tell that the photo was severely edited and photoshopped. The media went crazy: was she hiding?; she was dead?; where was Kate and why were there photoshopped photos of her being sent out? Even after being spotted out in her car, everyone concluded that it looked “nothing like her” and a “body double” must have been sent out. 

It was relentless—the media and Twitter alike got their witch forks and demanded answers: Where is Kate Middleton? The jokes were permeating Twitter—memes and gifs all talking about where she could be. 

After days and days on end—with no clear answer—Middleton put out all of the fires. She went on video to say that after undergoing abdominal surgery, which her doctors initially thought was noncancerous, turned out to be cancerous. She talked about the struggle it will be discussing her diagnosis with her children and the need to make them “comfortable” throughout the entire process of it. 

Everyone was quickly apologetic for their remarks and jokes. While Middleton was battling cancer—people were making jokes. “Looking back, everyone, including myself, should not have made jokes so quickly without knowing the facts” Flower added. She went on to say that if people can learn anything from this situation is to not be so quick to make judgments about things they do not know. 

With questions answered, Middleton can now focus on battling cancer in privacy with her husband and children.