If You Really Care About Kate Middleton's Health, You'll Stop Talking About Her Weight

When you see someone who appears to be losing or gaining weight, you might immediately want to speculate why. And in the era of real-time social media, your concerns could reach that person — and the world — in seconds. Yet vividly highlighting someone's possible health issues can lead to unintended and detrimental consequences.

Take all the talk about Kate Middleton's weight, for instance. By late 2025, her already thin frame seemed noticeably thinner in photographs. As a result, many fans began wondering online about what was causing her to seemingly drop pounds. Though a significant number positioned their thoughts as caring, they actually might have been making it harder for the Princess of Wales to speak up or, if needed, get help.

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It may sound counterintuitive to imagine that observing someone's dramatic weight change could cause the person to want to hide its root cause. However, a 2025 study published in the Journal of Eating Disorders shows that as stigma builds, people dealing with weight-related disorders tend to shy away from seeking a solution for their difficulties.

For the study, 146 subjects (mostly women) completed a survey and assessments to determine their level of perceived stigma around a hypothetical person with anorexia nervosa (one type of eating disorder). The results showed that the people who stigmatized the condition tended to place blame on those with the disorder. As a consequence, the study concluded that the person with the disorder was less apt to take positive behavioral steps toward treatment.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has noted this relationship between feeling stigmatized and delaying help, particularly in the realm of mental health disorders. In fact, public stigma (the kind Middleton would likely experience) is one of the types of stigma that is listed. (As a side note, eating disorders are officially classified as mental health disorders.)

This isn't to suggest that an eating disorder is behind Middleton's svelte silhouette; she may just have likely be experiencing an outcome from a serious health condition she faced. Middleton went through cancer treatment and has been in remission for only a year as of early 2026 (via ABC News). And recovery from cancer therapies such as chemotherapy, which Middleton received as preventative chemotherapy, can affect a patient's ability to regain weight, according to the National Cancer Institute.

To be sure, Middleton's weight has brought her media attention previously. For instance, in 2011, ABC News called her "wisp-thin" when covering her wedding to Prince William. (She may have tried a fad diet at the time, according to reports.) And a 2025 piece in Yahoo! News described her as "fragile" after her chemotherapy treatments. In other words, the buzz around her weight isn't new, but that doesn't negate its potential to hinder her next health steps.