Princess Kate's whereabouts are very clear - conspiracy theorists need to leave her alone

What has happened to people I previously considered to be sane and balanced? How have so many adults I respect morphed into Kate Middleton conspiracy theorists? In response to the news that Kate had been spotted out and about with her husband at the couples’ favourite local farm shop a mile from their home, I received a flurry of messages asking if I’d heard this “weird” story, and what I thought about it.

I responded thus: Why is it weird for Kate, who is obviously making a slow steady recovery, to break the monotony of being confined to quarters without venturing too far from home? Isn’t enjoying a change of scenery, visiting a familiar place you like spending time in, just what the rest of us would do in her place?

How can any element in this latest bulletin about the convalescing Princess of Wales be considered weird?

If she suddenly bobbed up tossing the caber in Aberdeen, that would be weird or if she was spotted coming out of a tattoo parlour, that would be weird. If Kate and Wills took to the ice at the nearest rink, jumped aboard a private jet with Beyonce or signed up for Strictly, all hell would rightly break loose.

A brief visit to a farm shop down the road is possibly the least weird choice open to the Waleses. It’s safe, predictable and makes reassuring sense. So how can it generate such feverish speculation and accusations of deep-fakery?

I am astounded at the willingness of hitherto sensible people to hitch themselves to the ludicrous – and malicious – bandwagon of speculation about Kate. Why do they join the conspiracy rabble in pretending to be victims of deliberate deception? Kate’s whereabouts are clear. She is at home at Adelaide Cottage with her family. She has been seen, as we might expect, on the school run in a car driven by her mother Carole.

She has been seen in silhouette in a car with William. She wanted to allay rumours with a healthy and happy Mothers’ Day photograph – and unwittingly sent the world into a frenzy by indulging in a little amateur editing.

Kate is clearly now making headway in her recovery and might now be going slightly stir-crazy at home. That is why she went to a neighbouring farm shop. It’s obvious. There are no grounds for suspicion.

It’s time for people who should know better to call a halt to this supremely hurtful “Where is Kate?” nonsense. She is exactly where she is supposed to be. Leave her the hell alone.