Kate Middleton is not in Houston for cancer treatment

HOUSTON — Is Catherine, Princess of Wales, in Houston receiving cancer treatment?

The royal family says no, but you may have seen the rumor pop up on your social media in the last 48 hours.

The Texas Medical Center is no stranger to high-profile patients as it is one of the leading cancer centers in the world. It therefore seems plausible that Kate Middleton could call on the expertise of doctors at MD Anderson.

But the royal family immediately squashed the rumors when Kensington Palace said the 42-year-old princess was not in Houston for treatment or any other reason.

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KHOU 11 News also contacted the BBC, who said royal sources told them Princess Kate hasn’t even left the United Kingdom since her diagnosis earlier this year.

We also reached out to MD Anderson, who would neither confirm nor deny the rumor due to health care privacy rules.

So how did the rumor start? This appears to date back to a Reddit post in which someone claimed to have visited the St. Regis Hotel in Houston last weekend and friends staying there said Middleton had been spotted there and assumed she was in town to seek treatment.

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From there, a royal fan on TikTok posted a video with the information that was viewed 500,000 times.

The St. Regis Hotel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In late March, Princess Kate announced that she had undergone chemotherapy treatment following recent surgery.

“I want to take this opportunity to personally thank you for all the wonderful messages of support and understanding while I recover from surgery,” Princess Kate said in a video announcement. “It’s been an incredibly difficult few months for our entire family.”

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“In January I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time it was thought that my condition was not cancerous. The operation was successful, but tests carried out after the operation revealed the presence from cancer,” continued Princess Kate. “So my medical team advised me to undergo preventative chemotherapy, and I am now in the early stages of this treatment.”

Wearing a casual striped sweater and jeans, Kate sat on a wooden bench in front of a lawn dotted with daffodils. The flowers, which bloom in early spring, are often used as a symbol of hope for people battling cancer.

The Princess of Wales said the news had come as a shock to her and Prince William and that they had “done everything we could to process and manage this privately, for the sake of our young family”.

Kate asked for “time, space and privacy” while she was treated for an unspecified type of cancer.