Prince William and Kate Middleton trolled amid affair allegations: 'Poor Kate'

American TV host Stephen Colbert has trolled Prince William and Kate Middleton amid rumours she is 'in hiding' because he cheated on her with his longtime friend Rose Hanbury.

Kate has barely been seen in public since Christmas Day, with the Princess of Wales getting caught up in a Photoshop scandal after she and William shared a photo for Mother's Day that appeared to have been edited heavily – to the point AP issued a statement that they would be retracting the image.

The Princess confirmed the photo had been edited, taking to her Instagram Stories to share an unprecedented statement that read, "Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion with the family photograph we shared yesterday caused.

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"I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother's Day," she added, signing off simply with, "C."

Stephen Colbert makes fun of William and Kate

On Tuesday night's episode of The Late Show, host Stephen Colbert poked fun at the situation, telling the audience, "The kingdom has been all a flutter by the seeming disappearance of Kate Middleton. Well now, internet sleuths are guessing that Kate’s absence may be related to her husband and the future King of England William having an affair."

The host gasped, and sarcastically added, "Oh no, my heart goes out to poor Kate."

"So, I think we all know who the alleged other woman is. Say it with me –– the Marchioness of Cholmondeley –– what a beautiful name!" he joked, referencing Rose.

Stephen also pointed out that Cholmondeley is pronounced 'Chumley'.

"Now there have been rumours an affair between William and the Marching Band of Chicanery since 2019," he said, mocking her title.

"According to tabloids back then, when Kate supposedly confronted him about it, he laughed it off saying there was nothing to it. Always a good response when your wife accuses you of cheating," he said.

Pretending to be William and speaking with an English accent, the host said, "Ha ha, imagine me having an affair! It is to laugh."

"It reminds me of a jape –– knock, knock, who’s there? Oh it’s my illegitimate son. I’ve knocked up my mistress."

Stephen spoke about the rumours after referencing the fact that social media users are theorising that Kate has been hiding from the public eye because William has been cheating on her. Of course, these are simply rumours and not proven to be true.

InTouch first made the claims, alleging that Kate "immediately confronted" William, who "just laughed it off", leading Kate to see her friendship with Rose in an "entirely different light".

William's attorney has previously denied the rumours, telling the Daily Beast they are "false and highly damaging".

What's been happening with Kate?

The Princess of Wales underwent abdominal surgery in January but has only been seen in public once since Christmas Day.

Wild conspiracy theories began circulating on social media ranging from humorous - such as that her absence could be due to a bad haircut or that she was working at the disastrous Willy Wonka Experience in Glasgow - to the more sinister (she's dead and the Palace is covering it up).

Things got even more out of hand after Kate shared the photo of her with her three kids for Mother's Day.

Photo agency AP retracted the photo saying, "At closer inspection, it appears that the source has manipulated the image."

Ruby Naldrett, who works at the UK newspaper the Daily Mirror, took to X to share her theory on the ill-fated snap, claiming that it appeared the 2016 image was used in the photo.

"My analysis of the Kate Middleton photo saga is that they took her face from the Vogue cover she did years ago and edited it in," Ruby wrote alongside comparisons.

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A royal expert has since claimed that Kate Middleton is likely in a "fragile mental and physical state," and feeling "feeling miserable" following the debacle.

"She was photographed yesterday in the car with William (and) she didn’t look that happy. She must be under intense pressure now – whenever she’s going to be seen in public," she added. "The pressure has doubled and redoubled and I think she’s in a fragile mental and physical state and we should lay off here."

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