Kate Middleton in a coma: Who is Concha Calleja, the journalist who made this fake claim?

The British Royal Family is the most scrutinised Royal Family in the world. As such, there is a daily outpour of rumours, claims and articles being written.

Those claims are usually made by what we refer to as ‘royal experts’ or ‘royal commentators’. They have made a career talking and writing about the Royal Family and some of them are or used to be in the Royal Rota (a selected group of media representatives invited to attend and report on royal events).

Sometimes publications branch out and they’ll ask for psychologists or body language experts to pitch in. As a result, some things that are said about the royals are not always true. And, though some of them border on outrageous, most claims and rumours tend to be reasonable.

This is not the case here.

Kate Middleton put in a coma?

That claim was made on the Spanish channel Fiesta by their royal expert Concha Calleja. During the show Calleja and the other people present, discussed the Princess of Wales’s health. At the time, the Princess was a day away from being sent home. The journalist started saying that something had gone wrong in the postoperative period.

Calleja said (as translated by DeepL):

The doctors had to make drastic decisions at that time because of the complications that arose. The decision was to induce a coma. They had to intubate her.

They were serious complications that they didn't expect because the operation went well, but the post-operative period didn't go so well.

At the time, Calleja even alleged that Middleton could still be in a coma as her release date approached. The journalist also continued her claims and stated that the decision to put the Princess in a coma was an attempt ‘to save her life’ after her ‘life (had) been in great danger’.

The Fiesta article reporting on what Calleja said in her appearance doesn’t say what her sources are. The Daily Mail reports that a Palace insider has debunked these claims saying:

It's total nonsense, (...) No attempt was made by that journalist to fact-check anything that she said with anyone in the household.

The Palace has also said that the Princess hadn’t been admitted to the hospital on 28 December like Calleja suggested.

Who is Concha Calleja?

Concha Calleja is a Spanish journalist and author. Her background is not what you would expect from someone who is presented as a royal expert.

According to her biography which you can find a link to on her website, she studied Geography and History as well as Psychology. She specialises in Forensic Psychology and Criminology.

Throughout her career, Calleja has written several books on the Royal Family, especially on Princess Diana. In 2017 she published Diana. Réquiem por una mentira (Diana, Requiem for a Lie).

The book is described as a ‘psychological profile’ of the late Princess and a new look on the investigation into her death in Paris in 1997. In that book, it is reported that she makes new claims about what occurred after her death including the fact that she isn’t really buried on an island of Althorp (the Spencer estate residence).

For her 2021 bookDiana de Gales: «Me van a asesinar» (Diana of Wales: "I am going to be assassinated") Celleja reportedly spoke to Mohamed Al Fayed and the two exchanged the results of their own investigations into the 1997 accident. In the book the author says she collected a plethora of evidence including the ‘results of the autopsies’ and ‘sworn statements from British spies’.

In Spain, Calleja works with news outlets and comments on royal matters. Her pinned post on X reads:

When there is a great interest created, the first thing that dies is the truth, because the official truth, the one that reaches us, is something else entirely.

Whether or not her claims about the Princess of Wales being put in a coma are true, they sure did cause quite a stir!

Read more:

⋙ Princess Lilibet: The new claims saying Harry and Meghan didn’t have the Queen's authorisation don’t add up

⋙ King Charles and Kate Middleton both in hospital: Who could take over for the monarch if he’s incapacitated?

⋙ Kate Middleton, Princess Charlotte and Princess Anne: Can these women ensure the future of the monarchy?

Sources:

Marca: Concern over Kate Middleton's health: Something has gone wrong in the postoperative period

Fiesta: Exclusiva | 'Fiesta' da detalles sobre los problemas que tuvo Kate Middleton en el posoperatorio de su intervención

Daily Mail: 'It's total nonsense': Palace's fury over Spanish show's 'lies' that Kate was in a 'coma' and in 'great danger' following Princess of Wales's surgery

Amazon - Concha Calleja

Concha Calleja on X