Kate, Princess of Wales, shared last week she is undergoing “preventative chemotherapy”

China, Russia and Iran are feared to be fuelling disinformation about Kate, Princess of Wales.

Senior government figures believe hostile states could have played a role in spreading wild conspiracy theories and unfounded rumours online about Prince William’s wife, who has been absent from public life since Christmas Day.

By sending social media platforms into a frenzy about a high-profile individual such as Princess Kate and fuelling attacks against her and the Royal Family, these hostile state actors could be aiming to destabilise the UK, Whitehall sources fear.

A government source told The Telegraph: “Part of the modus operandi of hostile states is to destabilise things – whether that is undermining the legitimacy of our elections or other institutions.”

These fears were raised just hours before Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden, addressing the House of Commons, accused “Chinese state-affiliated actors” of being behind two separate “malicious” attacks on both the UK’s electoral watchdog and on MPs critical of Beijing.

He said: “Taken together these actions demonstrate a clear and persistent pattern of behaviour that signals hostile intent from China.”

The UK is now slapping sanctions on two individuals and has summoned the Chinese ambassador – but China has already hit back at the claims, calling them a “slander”.

Kensington Palace announced in mid-January Princess Kate would remain far from the public eye until after Easter as she had undergone a successful abdominal surgery.

Oliver Dowden addressed the Commons today (Image: GETTY)

Her prolonged public absence prompted furore in some corners of social media, with many users – including a few celebrities – joking or voicing concerns about her whereabouts, wellbeing and domestic life.

The frenzy peaked following the release by Kensington Palace of a Mothering Sunday picture which, due to some editing carried out by the Princess, was retracted by the major picture agencies.

On March 22, Princess Kate and Prince William’s office released a video in which the Princess of Wales revealed analysis carried out after her surgery revealed cancer “had been present”, which has led her to begin “preventative chemotherapy”.

This news marked another cruel blow to the Royal Family, coming only weeks after Sarah Ferguson and King Charles were also diagnosed with cancer.

Minutes after Kensington Palace had shared this touching video, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak issued a statement in which he expressed his support for the Wales’ family and said Kate had been “subjected to intense scrutiny” in recent weeks as well as “unfairly treated” on social media.