There are 2 men missing from the conversation about Kate Middleton.

For better or for worse, the British royal family has been all anyone can talk about over the past few weeks.

By now, we've all become acutely attuned to the unfolding timeline since February ticked over into March, when the public began whispering about the Princess of Wales' whereabouts and wellbeing.

After a growing campaign that rapidly gained traction across social media platforms, "where's Kate" conspiracy theories grew enough momentum that we began to see the royals responding to the public's prodding.

First, there was the paparazzi photo of Catherine supposedly travelling with her mother, Carol Middleton. Then came the photoshop drama, which only added fuel to the fire. On March 8, Kate and her three children — Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis — sat for a picture to celebrate Mother's Day, snapped by her husband Prince William.

Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months.

Wishing everyone a Happy Mother's Day. C

📸 The Prince of Wales, 2024 pic.twitter.com/6DywGBpLLQ

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) March 10, 2024

On March 10, the image was released across the official Kensington Royal social media channels and a storm erupted questioning its legitimacy — so much so, major press agencies including AAP issued a kill notice claiming the image had been altered or manipulated to the point they could not verify the source material.

It was a damning move, tarnishing the royal family's legitimacy.

And who took the fall? Kate, of course.

An apology and subsequent admission of fault was issued by the Princess. It seems Catherine, a studied photographer, made some errors when she photoshopped the image in question.

Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day. C

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) March 11, 2024

The statement was decidedly signed off with a singular 'C', placing all fault on Princess Catherine.

It was all her, apparently. But while this whole ordeal has lay squarely on her shoulders, it's now leaving many to ask not "where's Kate" but "where's William?"

Watch: Prince William jokes that Kate Middleton looks like a Christmas tree. Post continues below.

Because Catherine's husband, her partner in life and royal duties, has been noticeably absent from the conjecture. At least, from any public facing statements.

He has, however, dutifully continued his royal engagements, seemingly paying no mind to the furore going on around him.

On March 15, Prince William had a stacked calendar. During the day, he attended the OnSide Youth Zone organisation in West London, where he cheerily played basketball and baked cookies with young members of the public. Later on, William handed out prizes at the Diana Legacy Awards at the Science Museum, an event which honours his late mother's philanthropic endeavours.

A memorable day, as we had the privilege of being joined by HRH The Prince of Wales to formally open @WESTYouthZone, ahead of it officially opening its doors to Hammersmith & Fulham’s young people on 21 April. @KensingtonRoyal pic.twitter.com/x3LlSCs6js

— OnSide (@OnSideYZ) March 14, 2024

At neither engagement did he acknowledge his wife's photoshop fumble, nor did he make any statement in support of her, quietly avoiding any involvement in the whole snafu. In fact, so jarring was his sunny disposition while the feverish discourse raged on about his wife online, it prompted many to pick apart his appearance right down to his 'missing' wedding ring.

Although for those hoping the lack of ring might be a smoking gun answer to questions about what's going on with the royal couple, they were left disappointed after it was recalled that the Prince never wears jewellery.

"Although it's traditional for royal women to wear both an engagement ring and a wedding ring after they get married, it's never been traditional for royal men to wear one," said royal expert Eloise Parker in an interview with Marie Claire in 2018. "That's why Prince Philip and Prince William don't wear them. I think when you have a wedding watched by millions, everyone knows you’re married."

In fact, at the time of their wedding in 2011, St. James Palace released an official statement explaining that Prince William would not even be given a ring during the ceremony, nor would he be wearing one henceforth.

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A post shared by The Prince and Princess of Wales (@princeandprincessofwales)

Elsewhere, King Charles has also been absent from the "where's Kate?" narrative.

While it could be argued that he has a fair bit on his plate at the moment with growing concern around the nature of his cancer diagnosis, there have been next to zero mutterings on the subject of Catherine from his camp.

Sure, Charles wasn't personally involved in the picture or the pandemonium that followed. But when you think about how easily the royal family have been able to control the narrative of the British media (well... until now), you have to begin to wonder why the King hasn't offered the Palace's official support to Catherine in any way.

It has long been assumed that King Charles and Prince William have the ability to send messages via 'royal correspondents' and 'insiders' to let their feelings be known to the media (and therefore, the public) without directly saying so. So why isn't he doing it this time?

Perhaps we should be picking up not what is being said about Princess Catherine, but rather, what isn't. While this particular ordeal is niche in nature, it's something that we have seen play out time and time again around the world: Women take the fall while men stay quiet.

Perhaps Prince William and King Charles' respective silence on the matter speaks louder than any other theory doing the rounds.

At this point, we can probably all agree that something seems to be seriously amiss within the royal family. What that is exactly is unknown, for now at least. But until we start hearing messages of support from the two most powerful men in the Windsor cohort, one can only assume that the journey ahead for Catherine will be forged alone.

Feature Image: Getty.