Kate Middleton is reportedly considering stepping away from her royal duties altogether, according to a shock new article.

The information is said to come from a Palace source, who supposedly told the National Enquirer that though the Princess of Wales hasn’t made a concrete decision one way or the other yet, the constant pressure of royal life has exacted a heavy toll on her.

As a result, Kate continues to push back the date upon which she’ll return to royal life following her disappearance from the spotlight back in January after a “planned abdominal procedure”.

Given the protracted nature of Kate’s recovery from surgery – the Palace outlined early on that her return would not come this side of Easter – it’s been heavily speculated that her condition must be serious.

That, coupled with the general dearth of information shared by the Royal Family, has birthed a maelstrom of conjecture that the Palace have been trying desperately to keep on top of.

Their cause was hardly helped this weekend when the first official photo of Kate Middleton, intended to celebrate Mother’s Day in the UK, was withdrawn by multiple news agencies amid claims that the image had been “manipulated”.

Kate later confessed to having self-edited the photo in question, but the fact remains that there’s enough question marks surrounding the Princess of Wales’s whereabouts and well being these last two months to ensure that very few people – if any at all – are prepared to take the Palace at their word when they say that all is well.