Inside the Windsor farm shop at the centre of the Kate Middleton and Prince William conspiracy whirlwind

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A farm shop that sells natural asparagus and expensive pate turned the unlikely centre of a media storm this week.

The Prince and Princess of Wales have been noticed, purchasing luggage in hand, in footage filmed by a passerby by means of his automotive window in Windsor on Saturday. It was the first time Kate had been seen on digital camera since she underwent surgical procedure for undisclosed causes in January.

The lack of data from the royals about her well being has despatched the unhealthier aspect of the web into overdrive, with hypothesis and suspicion compounded by a earlier admission {that a} household photograph the princess had launched on Mother’s Day had been doctored.

Amateur sleuths and conspiracy theorists have been analysing the blurry clip like the infamous JFK Zapruder tape, evaluating how Kate walks in heels at earlier occasions, questioning whether or not she is both utterly AI or a employed lookalike.

As new questions arose on Wednesday about Kate’s medical information, The Independent headed to the Windsor Farm Shop to attempt and separate reality from more and more unhinged fiction.

On the method from the prepare station to the shop, six folks in orange bibs fanned out throughout an open subject. Were they litter pickers or volunteers searching for Kate?

The first lady turned out to be having a fag on her break as I requested if she was a daily at the farm shop.

“I wasn’t working that day”, she instructed me, stubbing her cigarette out aggressively on the nation highway. I requested if her colleagues noticed Kate however she turned and walked away, utterly silent.

I headed in by means of the entrance gates to be greeted by two pensioners who meet at the farm shop to have a jacket potato each week and make amends for the gossip. There must be lots to speak about this week.

“There is a lovely restaurant in there,” Sandra, 74, mentioned. “William and Kate just blend in that’s the nature of who they are. They only live down the road so this is like their Co-Op for them. I’m sure they queue up and pay just like everyone else.”

Her buddy interjected: “The coffee here is really good – try the bacon baps.”

Walking inside, you might be instantly greeted by rows of flowers, one way or the other wilting on the first day of spring.

Handfuls of asparagus are on sale for £6, pots of Wild Boar pâté for £5 or you possibly can decide up a whole skinned rabbit for below £20.

Cantabrian Anchovies price a tenner whereas a loaf of olive bread is £4.79. Kale – round 80p in Sainsbury’s – is a pricier £2.49 right here. The price of dwelling like the royals, it could appear.

Inside, one shopper expressed his frustration at simply lacking out on the well-known Windsor roast beef. “When you go to the supermarket the beef is cremated,” he explains, head bowed. “But here they do it like the French or the Italians, just the way I like it. It’s just seared.

“I will see you back here first thing tomorrow”, he barked at the employee, earlier than turning to go away. Customers seem extra involved about their purchases than princes and princesses.

A strapping younger butcher beneficial the pork and herb sausages earlier than visibly wilting when he noticed my press card on the again of my telephone.

“Which press are you a part of?” he requested, maybe involved he could develop into unwillingly caught up in the nation’s present obsession.

I requested him if the sausages are match for a king .“Now that’s the only story you’re going to get out of me,” he replied.

I paid for my tea luggage, chocolate honeycomb and biscuits for the workplace earlier than persevering with the hunt for anybody who might need seen our future Queen at the weekend.

Phil Appleton, 69, was busy tucking right into a tuna sandwich together with his canine Beth in the cafe huts, nonetheless decked out with Christmas decorations on the first day of spring.

“Who cares if it’s a double or not?” he mentioned, referring to the doubtful suggestion circulating on X that the Kate seen in the automotive park footage was not truly our Kate. “The AI deepfakes are not that good yet,” he continued. “People have to make their own minds up. There’s so much c***, fake stuff out there.. You have to believe what you want to believe. Social media is just a reflection of you whatever conspiracy theory you want to look for.

“I’m trying to focus on my life here with real things instead of living on social media. It is a form of madness, you start living in an alternative reality.”

It’s a refreshing thought. Phil quickly returned to what brings most individuals to the farm shop; the meals.

“The meat here is the real stuff,” he mentioned. “The fruit I’m not so sure about.”

Finally, I discover somebody who mentioned they have been there on Saturday, even when they didn’t twig at the time. Kamal, 52, was at the Farm Shop at the similar time as Kate however says he was too engrossed in his sizzling chocolate to grasp.

The aviator-wearing buyer, who says merely he “flies for a living”, added: “I was here on Saturday but I don’t follow the news and it was only on Sunday night I saw she was here. I’m not struck by royalty or celebrity I wouldn’t bat an eyelid. If I had seen her I would nod my head and carry on sipping my champagne.

“I’m in that world and have friends in that industry. If I’m having a bad day I could say ‘I’m sorry but I can’t speak right now’ but Kate has to be on duty 24/7.

“She had an operation and she should be allowed to have some ‘me’ time,” he continues. “I think it’s great they can come here.

“When you’re cocooned in this world I think you sign up to this attention. You can’t have your cake and eat it as much as you would like to.

“If I was in Russia or North Korea I wouldn’t believe the video but it could be a double. But am I bothered either way, no. They are just doing their job and that’s it.”