Kate Middleton Miscarriage Rumors Debunked As Prince William Jets To Japan — Solo

Rumors of a Kate Middleton miscarriage were greatly exaggerated, despite alarming reports that surfaced in a United States tabloid earlier this week. In fact, the Duchess of Cambridge is proceeding along so well with her pregnancy — now in its seventh month — that her husband, Prince William, felt comfortable leaving Kate behind as he jetted off to Japan, alone.

The Kate Middleton miscarriage rumors were apparently started by the celebrity publication Star, which splashed a photo of a distraught Duchess across its cover with the panic-inducing headlines, “Breaking News: 7 Weeks Early! Kate Rushed To Hospital. Palace Orders Media Blackout —Hospital prepares for premature birth — William rushes to her bedside.”

The story also said that Kate Middleton was in danger of a miscarriage. The report was especially frightening for royal watchers because third-trimester miscarriages are rare and can indicate a dangerous underlying condition such as infection or an undetected thyroid condition.

The Star report vent viral throughout the online media, appearing in even non-gossip publications.

But that got the Star’s rivals on the royal gossip circuit on the case, and other sites quickly discovered that the rumors of a Kate Middleton miscarriage — or for that matter, any new health crisis at all — were, they said, completely made up.

So made up, in fact, that Prince William, Kate Middleton’s husband and father of her soon-to-be-born child, not only did not “rush to her bedside, he boarded a jet and touched down in Japan on Thursday for the start of a four-day royal visit to the Far East, which will take the prince to both Japan and China.

Meanwhile, back at the palace, everything appears to be fine.

“If you’re wondering how an American magazine of low repute managed to get this exclusive, it’s because it’s fabricated,” wrote the site Gossip Cop, which as its name implies, has made a mission of policing other gossip sites for phony stories such as the Kate Middleton miscarriage.

“Because this story is imaginary, Star needed to find a way to explain why no one knew when one of the world’s most famous women was allegedly rushed to the hospital,” wrote Gossip Cop. “Here it is: ‘The palace went into lockdown,’ says Star, noting that no one was allowed to talk to the media.”

Yet, despite this “lockdown,” Star, of all places, managed to get the details and run with the story.

“We’re pretty sure we would have heard about Kate Middleton going into premature labor and possibly having a miscarriage – if it were really happening,” another royal-hounding site, Celeb Dirty Laundry, added.

Suffice to say that royal watchers and Kate Middleton fans around the world can relax. The Duchess of Cambridge did not have a miscarriage or go into premature labor, and she is fully expected to deliver a healthy baby sometime in April.

[Image: Chris Jackson/Getty Images]