BBC 'royal family announcement': Jay Rayner debunks speculation

Food critic and TV personality Jay Rayner has spoken out about rumours of a 'major royal announcement from the Royal Family in the next 72 hours'. Rumours have again started to swirl about the communications coming out of the Royal Family as the Princess of Wales continues to remain in private following a medical procedure.

A viral post on Twitter suggested 'the BBC has been told to expect a major announcement from the Royal Family in the next 72 hours' - though there was no evidence cited to support this claim. TV critic and broadcaster, Scott Bryan, who hosts a BBC 5Live and BBC Sounds podcast said of the post: "I have not heard a thing from anyone."

Food critic Jay Rayner then replied saying: "Because it's not true. (I checked)."

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The critic has not confirmed what the 'check' entailed in the surprising social media exchange, but there has been no official announcement from neither the royals or the BBC that the Royal Family are issuing any information.

Jay Rayner appears as a critic on the BBC's MasterChef, where he often judges the contestants alongside food writer Tom Parker Bowles - the son of Queen Camilla.

Speculation about the condition of the Princess of Wales has been rife on social media in recent weeks. Kate Middleton underwent surgery at the London Clinic on January 16, but details of her condition have been kept private.

Kate left the hospital on January 29 almost two weeks later and returned to Adelaide Cottage in Windsor. Details of the princess's condition have not been revealed.

The Princess of Wales is not expected to return to official duties until after Easter.

The conjecture about the Princess of Wales' condition became even more pronounced after her apology for a family picture issued by Kensington Palace last week on Mother's Day.

It was withdrawn with a "kill" notice by international picture agencies and the UK's PA news agency amid concerns it had been manipulated. The Princess of Wales apologised with a statement on social media which read: "Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing.

"I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother's Day. C."