Kate Middleton defended after latest hair change fuels conspiracy theory

Royal fans think they've spotted yet another change in Kate Middleton's appearance - yes, again, and this time, it's ignited a conspiracy theory.

The Princess of Wales' hair has been an enigma that the internet has been obsessed with for around a month now, after she initially swapped out her brunette look for a lighter colour at the beginning of September.

However, the change was actually first spotted in August, as she was photographed through a car window while making her way to a church service in Scotland.

Then, a few weeks later, she publicly debuted the hairstyle for the first time during a visit to the new gardens at London's Natural History Museum on 4 September.

But people were left seriously confused when just a few days later, Kate headed out to another royal engagement, and this time her hair looked brown again.

The internet is once again obsessed with Kate Middleton's hair (WPA Pool/Getty Images)

She and Prince William visited the National Federation of Women’s Institutes on 8 September to commemorate the third anniversary of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.

And some of the snaps taken appeared to show the Princess's hair looking dark again, leading some people to think she had already switched back to her old hair colour. However, it quickly became clear that it must have been a trick of lighting and angles that caused it to look so different, as it looked blonde again in other photos.

Then, to confuse people even more, a snap of Kate at the Duchess of Kent's funeral at Westminster Cathedral on 16 September had been edited to make it look like her hair was silver and her outfit was blue, when it was actually black.

One Twitter user wrote: Am I suddenly colourblind? She was wearing black from head to toe, and her hair wasn't grey either... What's the point of that?"

While a second added: "I don’t know who is playing around with filters, lighting & contrast, but the Princess of Wales was wearing her black bow tie Catherine Walker coat dress & certainly not a navy blue version."

And now, the saga continues.

The Princess of Wales first debuted blonde locks earlier this month (Max Mumby/Indigo)

More photos of the Princess of Wales have reignited the internet's obsession with her hair - this time with pictures taken at a school in Southport on Tuesday (23 September).

The trip was to view a new playground built to honour the young girls who were tragically killed at a dance class in the town last year.

Over on Reddit, one user shared a photo of Kate's hair looking darker again, and quipped: "Kate - from brunette, to blonde (ish) now back to a darker shade."

Another royal fan brutally chimed in with: "This is getting out of hand".

Some fans even think the swapping and changing between colours could mean Kate is trying out different wigs, rather than dying her natural hair every time.

Someone penned: "That would be so bad for her hair! No way they could keep dying it that often and have it be healthy. Has to be wigs," while others added: "At this point I think she’s just wearing different wigs every day" and "Wig for sure".

Kate's latest 'hair change' has sparked a conspiracy theory (WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, others rightly pointed out that if it is a wig, who cares?

"What does it matter? People are allowed to try new things, even when they're ill-advised. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten curtain bangs thinking "this time I'm going to rock" only to regret it the very next day," one person commented.

They added: "If I had her money, I'd probably have wigs of every different shape, size, and colour."

While another agreed: "So what? She's experimenting with her look. Something every woman is entitled to do."

They added that Kate 'messing around with wigs to try out new looks' is 'probably the most normal thing' they've ever seen her do.

Who knows - it could even be a trick of the camera again... either way, hopefully this is the end of the Kate hair debate!