As someone who does not have a strong belief in one particular Princess of Wales conspiracy, I’m just sort of hedging my bets on what’s really going on in The Sun/TMZ video. Allegedly, Prince William and Kate were seen by a random guy on Saturday, at the Windsor Farm Store, and the guy took a blurry video of W&K practically sprinting out of the store. Kate wore leggings, walked briskly and without aid, and she carried a heavy-looking bag. My initial thought was “that’s Kate but she’s had a hell of a lot of plastic surgery since Christmas.” After several viewings, I’m now questioning that – the gait was off, the woman in the video seems too tall and her proportions didn’t seem like Kate’s proportions. I could apparently never say any of this is I worked for any British media outlet, where a strict code of royal-sycophancy must be maintained at all time. Pity this poor BBC sports reporter, who questioned the royal-party line:

A BBC sports reporter appeared to promote conspiracy theories about the Princess of Wales by suggesting it was a “lookalike’ who was photographed over the weekend. The Princess, whose absence from public life while she has been recovering from surgery has sparked a flurry of bizarre conspiracy theories, was pictured visiting the Windsor Farm Shop on Saturday.

Sonja McLaughlan, the BBC’s rugby specialist, echoed this theory online, suggesting the individual seen shopping alongside Prince William was not his wife, but a double. She also suggested Prince William could have been replaced by an actor.

Commenting on a video which compares the individual in the latest footage against past pictures of the Princess, Ms McLaughlan wrote: “It’s so obviously not Kate. Some newspapers are reporting it as fact. But it’s not her. No conspiracy theorist but all very odd.”

She added to her post on Twitter: “Disturbing that newspapers like The Times are reporting this as fact. Headline ‘Kate seen in public for the first time’ when it’s clearly not her. As someone has said. Could be a couple of lookalikes making mischief.”

[From The Telegraph & MSN]

Not only is the video extremely odd, but the reaction to the video is odd and the reaction to people questioning the authenticity of the video is just bonkers. Like, the Windsors have zero credibility now. The Mother’s Day frankenphoto changed everything. William’s refusal to explain why he skipped his godfather’s memorial changed everything. The weirdness around which candid photos and videos are “allowed” to be published has added an extra layer of bullsh-t too – what is palace-approved or not, what is a set-up, why did the Sun run a story with no photos or video about the Windsor Farm Store visit for 24 hours? And on and on. I applaud this woman for at least having legitimate doubts and questioning the wisdom of every British outlet putting THEIR credibility on the line for what could conceivably be another Kensington Palace manipulation.

Speaking of, TMZ executive producer Charles Latibeaudiere has already started walking back the authenticity of the video:

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, covers courtesy of the Mail & The Sun.