Kim Kardashian is being pressed to apologise and take down her “insensitive” post about Kate Middleton after the royal announced on Friday that she is battling cancer.

Kardashian, 43, was one of many public figures who piled on to speculation about why Kate has been absent from public life for months. The Princess of Wales had not appeared in public since Christmas Day before Buckingham Palace announced that she was undergoing planned abdominal surgery in January.

On 17 March_, the reality starposted a photo of herself posing in front of a luxury car, while she was wearing leather pants and a black crop top. “On my way to go find Kate,” she captioned the post.

On 23 March, Kate issued a moving statement about her cancer diagnosis and how she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy.

The shocking revelation prompted social media followers to return to Kardashian’s post, urging her to apologise.

“After the news of her having cancer has been revealed, you should really take this down. It’s extremely insensitive and you owe our princess an apology,” one wrote.

“I think an apology is needed !” a separate individual posted. “Can you please go find an apology instead??”

“Didn’t age well. You never know what someone is battling,” another commented.

Others called on Kardashian to remove the post entirely. As of 24 March, the post remained on her official Instagram account.

Kardashian was asked about the joke soon after the Princess of Wales announced her cancer diagnosis on Friday.

In a video onThe Daily Mail, a photographer can be heard asking Kardashian, “Any comments about Kate?” as she leaves her son’s soccer game. The reality star said nothing.

The Independent has contacted a representative for Kardashian for comment.

Kardashian isn’t the only celebrity who bandied around conspiracy theories about the royal. Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, Jimmy Kimmel, and Andy Cohen also shared quips about the royal’s absence.

Blake Lively joked about the princess to promote her drinks brand after a Mother’s Day photo of Kate and her children was recalled by several news agencies for being manipulated. The Princess of Wales later issued an apology for the photograph.

The Gossip Girl star apologised on Instagram following the news of Kate’s cancer diagnosis. “I’m sure no-one cares today but I feel I have to acknowledge this,” she wrote. “I made a silly post around the ‘photoshop fails’ frenzy and, oh, man, that post has me mortified today. I’m sorry.”

“Sending love and well wishes to all, always,” she signed off.

Royal commentators lambasted those who had spread speculation. Speaking to TalkTV on 23 March, Royal expert Kinsey Schofield broke down in tears over the trolling that Kate has faced on social media.

“I’m mad at the Kim Kardashians making fun of the situation,” she said. “I’m mad at the John Olivers, I’m mad at the Stephen Colberts, and I’m mad that this person became a punchline when she was going through something so serious and horrible behind the scenes.”

The Princess of Wales announced that she was being treated for cancer on Friday. Sitting alone, outdoors on a bench, she explained that following her major abdominal surgery, “tests after the operation found cancer had been present”.

“My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment,” she said.

She said that she had kept her condition private until she and Prince William had time to properly explain to their children, George, 10, Charlotte, eight, and Louis, five.

“This of course came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family,” Kate continued.

“As you can imagine, this has taken time. It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment. But, most importantly, it has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be OK.”