Kate Middleton is reportedly considering stepping away from her royal duties altogether, according to a shock new article.

The information is said to come from a Palace source, who supposedly told the National Enquirer that though the Princess of Wales hasn’t made a concrete decision one way or the other yet, the constant pressure of royal life has exacted a heavy toll on her.

As a result, Kate continues to push back the date upon which she’ll return to royal life following her disappearance from the spotlight back in January after a “planned abdominal procedure”.

Given the protracted nature of Kate’s recovery from surgery – the Palace outlined early on that her return would not come this side of Easter – it’s been heavily speculated that her condition must be serious.

That, coupled with the general dearth of information shared by the Royal Family, has birthed a maelstrom of conjecture that the Palace have been trying desperately to keep on top of.

Their cause was hardly helped this weekend when the first official photo of Kate Middleton, intended to celebrate Mother’s Day in the UK, was withdrawn by multiple news agencies amid claims that the image had been “manipulated”.

Kate later confessed to having self-edited the photo in question, but the fact remains that there’s enough question marks surrounding the Princess of Wales’s whereabouts and well being these last two months to ensure that very few people – if any at all – are prepared to take the Palace at their word when they say that all is well.

In any case, the aforementioned report in RadarOnline states that Kate is now weighing up whether or not to step away from her royal duties entirely, and that’s a deliberation that has rocked her marriage to Prince William, heir to the throne.

“Kate’s desperate struggle with the constant pressures of life in the royal fishbowl has clearly taken a terrible toll on her physical and mental health,” a senior palace source is reported to have told the National Enquirer.

“She spent weeks staying out of the public eye after her operations — and it’s only strengthened her resolve to quit,” the source continued.

The same source went on to reveal that William is “beside himself” over the idea that Kate might want out.

“William is beside himself over her decision,” the source said. “He’s stunned his wife could ever consider such a move.

“He made sure she knew what she was getting into when she married him and she’s done a brilliant job. He’s concerned she’s become emotionally unstable, but she insists she’s finally seeing clearly!”