The hospital where Catherine, Princess of Wales, underwent abdominal surgery has said "any breach" of patient information would be investigated.
It follows reports a staff member tried to access her medical information.
The London Clinic - frequently used by royals - said it had "no place" for those intentionally breaching the trust of patients or colleagues.
Earlier, the Information Commissioners' Office said it had received a "breach report" and was making inquiries.
Al Russell, chief executive of the London Clinic, said in a statement that all his employees were "acutely aware" of their "individual, professional, ethical and legal duties with regards to patient confidentiality".
"We take enormous pride in the outstanding care and discretion we aim to deliver for all our patients that put their trust in us every day," he continued.
"We have systems in place to monitor management of patient information and, in the case of any breach, all appropriate investigatory, regulatory and disciplinary steps will be taken."
On Tuesday, the Daily Mirror reported that "at least one member of staff was said to have been caught trying to access" Catherine's medical notes.
The paper said an internal investigation had been launched at the private hospital, which has treated both the princess and King Charles III in recent months.
Mr Russell's statement made no direct reference to the claims about the Princess of Wales.
PA Media
The UK's privacy and data protection watchdog has already confirmed receipt of a so-called breach report.
In a statement, the Information Commissioners' Office (ICO) said it was "assessing the information provided".
The Data Protection Act 2018 makes it a criminal offence in the UK to knowingly or recklessly obtain, disclose or retain personal data without the consent of the data controller.
This specific part of the law was most commonly used to prosecute those who had accessed healthcare and financial records without a legitimate reason, according to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
When asked about the alleged breaches at the London Clinic, Downing Street said there were clearly "strict rules on patient data that must be followed".
"I think we all want to get behind the Princess of Wales, and indeed the Prince of Wales, and we obviously wish her the speediest of recoveries," the prime minister's official spokesman added.
Catherine had abdominal surgery in January, spending almost two weeks at the London Clinic, and has stepped back from public duties while she recovers.
Kensington Palace previously said she would take time away from public-facing engagements until after Easter.
But the princess's absence has led to weeks of online speculation and conspiracy theories about her health.
At the end of February, her husband William unexpectedly withdrew from a memorial service for his godfather - with a "personal matter" being blamed.
Despite assurances from Catherine's spokesperson that "the timelines of the princess's recovery" had been made clear, curiosity around her whereabouts grew - particularly on social media.
This came to a head in early March when an image of Catherine and her three children was posted on the official X account of the Prince and Princess of Wales, to mark Mother's Day.
It was found to have been edited, leading to picture services around the world withdrawing it. The princess subsequently apologised "for any confusion", saying she "occasionally" experimented with editing photographs.
On Monday, a blurry video of Catherine and William leaving a farm shop was published by the Sun newspaper but instead of quelling suspicion, the footage has seemed to fuel it.
The government lost the fourth vote too, by 263 votes to 233 – a majority of 30.
This means amendment D1 passes, saying ministers or immigrations officials should have the power under the bill to say that Rwanda is not a safe country for a particular person, or group of people.
That is the smallest opposition majority tonight.
Filters BETA
The government suffered seven defeats in the House of Lords on Wednesday over its contentious Rwanda bill. Peers voted in favour of amendments including to exempt people from deportation to Rwanda if they have assisted British troops and to exempt victims of modern slavery. The Lords also backed amendments for age assessments tests on unaccompanied children to be carried out by local authorities, applying the balance of probabilities burden of proof. Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, believes the government would bring the Rwanda Bill back next week to “get on with it” if it were ready to implement its deportation scheme. Cooper said: “The half a billion pound Rwanda scheme is a failing farce, which will only cover less than 1% of asylum arrivals.”
According to Katy Balls from the Spectator, Rishi Sunak told Tory MPs at the 1922 Committee: The PM said: “We are in the fight of our lives. This battle will define us, when the going got tough, when the polls were against us did we dig deep and fight or did we turn in on ourselves?”
The Department of Health and Social Care published its tobacco and vapes bill, the legislation that will very gradually ban smoking by ensuring that children turning 15 this year or younger will never legally be able to be sold tobacco.
Vaughan Gething used his first speech in the Senedd after being formally nominated as first minister of Wales to accuse the UK government of “unprecedented hostility” to devolution. He declared: “In recent years we have pushed the boundaries of what is possible with devolution. We did it, for example, to keep Wales safe [during Covid]. “But in that same period, we have seen unprecedented hostility towards democratic Welsh devolution from a UK government determined to undermine, frustrate and bypass the Welsh government and this Senedd. As well as leaving Wales with less say over less money, it is deeply corrosive, wasteful and undemocratic.”
Rishi Sunak’s flagship Rwanda deportation bill is expected to be put on hold until at least next month after the House of Lords inflicted seven defeats on Wednesday.
The safety of Rwanda (asylum and immigration) bill, which aims to block Strasbourg from halting the removal of asylum seekers to east Africa, is not expected to return to the Commons until after the Easter break.
Any delay could make it increasingly difficult to fulfil the prime minister’s plan to see flights take off for Kigali by the spring.
The legislation is central to the Conservative government’s pledge to “stop the boats”. Ministers have claimed that the bill will deter people from travelling across the Channel.
Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, believes the government would bring the Rwanda Bill back next week to “get on with it” if it were ready to implement its deportation scheme.
Commenting after peers inflicted a fresh defeat against the policy in the Lords, Cooper said: “The half a billion pound Rwanda scheme is a failing farce, which will only cover less than 1% of asylum arrivals.
“It is clearer than ever that Rishi Sunak knows this plan won’t work and only sees it as a political gimmick to get what the former immigration minister described as ‘symbolic flights off just before an election’.
“If the Conservatives were ready to implement this, they would be bringing the Bill back to complete the remaining stages next week and get on with it.
“But because their plans aren’t ready, they’ve decided to delay the Bill as well, so they can try to blame everyone else for the chaos they have created, and the fact that they haven’t got a proper plan.”
In an interview with the BBC’s Faisal Islam, the prime minister Rishi Sunak was asked for a timeframe on abolishing employers National Insurance.
Sunak said: “The first thing to explain is, you know, why have we been cutting national insurance? And it’s because like I said, I believe very much in hard work. And that’s why actually, it’s four years today that, you know, I created the furlough scheme or announced the furlough scheme.”
Sunak added: “Now, we have a situation at the moment, which isn’t fair, because if for someone in work, they pay tax twice, once in income tax and then once in national insurance. So there’s a double tax on work, which doesn’t apply to other forms of income. That’s not fair.
“But it’s also complicated unnecessarily, all that money goes into effectively the same pot to fund the same public services. So you know, ultimately our long term plan is to remove that double taxation on work because that will be a simpler, fairer tax system.”
When asked if it would abolished in one parliament, the PM said: “No, no, I think we need to stick to the plan. And we can make progress towards that goal in the next parliament.
“But what I’d say here is that judge me on my track record, we’re only going to do these things responsibly.”
After the Commons previously rejected the proposal to exempt people from deportation if they have assisted British troops, arguing that such people should come to the UK by safe and legal routes, Lord Browne added a caveat to his H1 amendment that they should give notice before arriving in the UK.
The contents voted 248 while the not-contents voted 209 so the Lords votes in favour of Amendment H1 to exempt people from deportation if they have assisted British troops.
Peers are now voting on a motion to approve the final amendment, H1.
H1, tabled by Des Browne, a Labour former defence secretary, would exempt people from deportation if they have assisted British troops.
The contents voted 251 while the not-contents voted 214 so the Lords votes in favour of G1 to exempt victims of modern slavery from deportation to Rwanda.
Peers are now voting on a motion to approve Amendment G1.
G1, tabled by Lady Butler-Sloss, would exempt victims of modern slavery from deportation to Rwanda.
The contents voted 249 while the not-contents voted 219 so amendment E1 is approved.
Peers are now voting on a motion to approve Amendment E1.
E1, tabled by Labour’s Ruth Lister, would say that age assessments tests on unaccompanied children should be carried out by local authorities, applying the balance of probabilities burden of proof.
A Labour peer who fled to Britain on the Kindertransport scheme said that sending children who have been wrongly assessed as adults to Rwanda would be “an appalling dereliction of our responsibilities to vulnerable young people”,
Lord Dubs said: “This House has consistently supported the rights of children in relation to asylum, these are the most vulnerable people in the whole of the asylum system.
“If a mistake is made the consequences will be out of all proportion to the damage if a mistake is made in the other direction.
“That is to say, to send a child wrongly assessed as being an adult to Rwanda would be an appalling dereliction of our responsibilities to vulnerable young people.”
Lord Coaker, the shadow home office minister, said the government has “got itself in a right mess” over the Bill.
He added the government is delaying its own legislation by delaying MPs voting on the Bill until after Easter rather than next Tuesday.
Aubrey Allegretti from the Times has more from Rishi Sunak’s meeting with the 1922 Committee.
It wasn’t all plain sailing for the PM
As @SamCoatesSky picked up on, Jake Berry challenged the PM over briefings against him over the weekend that the former party chair alleged came from No 10.
Berry said he was loyal and had not put in a letter of no confident but demanded…
That’s all from me for tonight. Nadeem Badshah is taking over now.
According to Katy Balls from the Spectator, Rishi Sunak told Tory MPs at the 1922 Committee:
We are in the fight of our lives.
This battle will define us, when the going got tough, when the polls were against us did we dig deep and fight or did we turn in on ourselves?’
John Crace thinks he knows the answer.
Ken Clarke, the Tory former chancellor who has been a strong opponent of the Rwanda bill (despite originally supporting the Rwanda policy), is the only Conservative who has voted with the opposition tonight. He voted against the government on amendment B1 (see 5.45pm) and amendment B2 (see 6.02pm).
Peers are now debating three more amendments to the Rwanda bill.
One, E1, tabled by Labour’s Ruth Lister, would say that age assessments tests on unaccompanied children should be carried out by local authorities, applying the balance of probabilities burden of proof.
Another, G1, tabled by Lady Butler-Sloss, a former lord justice of appeal, would exempt victims of modern slavery from deportation to Rwanda.
And the third, H1, tabled by Des Browne, a Labour former defence secretary, would exempt people from deportation if they have assisted British troops.
The government is opposing all three amendments.
The government lost the fourth vote too, by 263 votes to 233 – a majority of 30.
This means amendment D1 passes, saying ministers or immigrations officials should have the power under the bill to say that Rwanda is not a safe country for a particular person, or group of people.
The data watchdog is assessing a report staff at the hospital where the Princess of Wales had surgery tried to view her private health information.
The Daily Mirror claimed staff at the London Clinic - which is frequently used by royals - "attempted to access her private medical reports".
The Information Commissioners' Office (ICO) confirmed it received a "breach report" and is making inquiries.
BBC News has contacted the London Clinic for comment.
According to the Mirror, "at least one member of staff was said to have been caught trying to access" the princess's medical notes.
The paper said an internal investigation has been launched at the private London hospital, which has treated both the Princess of Wales and King Charles III in recent months.
Asked about the Mirror story, an ICO spokesperson said: "We can confirm that we have received a breach report and are assessing the information provided."
The ICO oversees the use of data protection and freedom of information regulations across the UK.
BBC News has not been able to independently verify the Mirror's claims, which were published late on Tuesday.
A Kensington Palace spokesperson declined to confirm or deny the report, adding: "This is a matter for The London Clinic."
A BBC sports reporter appeared to promote conspiracy theories about the Princess of Wales by suggesting it was a “lookalike” who was photographed over the weekend.
Video and photographs emerged on Monday night capturing the 42-year-old alongside the Prince of Wales on a shopping trip close to her Adelaide Cottage home.
Sonja McLaughlan, the BBC’s rugby specialist, echoed this theory online, suggesting the individual seen shopping alongside Prince William was not his wife, but a double.
She also suggested Prince William could have been replaced by an actor.
Commenting on a video which compares the individual in the latest footage against past pictures of the Princess, Ms McLaughlan wrote: “It’s so obviously not Kate.
“Some newspapers are reporting it as fact. But it’s not her. No conspiracy theorist but all very odd.”
She added to her post on X, formerly Twitter:
Christopher Bouzy, an American entrepreneur who founded a Twitter analytics service that tracks disinformation, inauthentic behaviour and targeted harassment stoked the conspiracy theory fires by questioning the Princess’s appearance.
In a series of posts on X, Mr Bouzy said that Kate looked “markedly different” from the leaked paparazzi picture published by American sites earlier this month, claiming she looked “younger, slimmer, taller and faster”.
He added: “We were told Kate was recovering and would resume her royal duties shortly.
“Yet, in the recent video, she is holding a bag and moving briskly. If she’s capable of such activity, why isn’t she back to fulfilling her royal duties yet?”
Others denounced those spreading conspiracy theories and offered support for the Princess and her family. Kevin Pietersen, the 43-year-old ex-England captain, dismissed the theories while claiming that he sees the Royal couple “most days” and urging people to “leave her and her beautiful family alone”.
Trust in the Royal family has remained unchanged despite the swirling conspiracy theories online. YouGov polling found two-thirds of respondents’ opinions of the Princess of Wales had not changed since she admitted to photoshopping a Mother’s Day photograph.
The photograph of the Princess of Wales with her children, released by Kensington Palace, was recalled last week by five of the world’s biggest picture agencies over fears it had been “manipulated”.
The image, taken by the Prince of Wales in Windsor earlier this week, showed the Princess looking happy and healthy after her surgery. It was the first authorised picture of her since Christmas.
The photograph had been intended, in part, to reassure the public about her health, after she had spent weeks at home recovering from a major abdominal operation.
But it was recalled by the photo agencies Getty, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Shutterstock and Reuters, which put out a “kill notice” to halt their distribution of the picture.
“At closer inspection, it appears that the source has manipulated the image,” the AP notice said.
On Monday, Getty Images said a second photograph which featured Queen Elizabeth II surrounded by her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, taken by the Princess of Wales, was “digitally enhanced at source”.
The photo, taken at Balmoral in August 2022, was reviewed by Getty Images after the Princess admitted that she had edited the Mother’s Day picture of herself and her three children.
Buckingham Palace released it on April 21 last year to mark what would have been the late Queen’s 97th birthday.
Lucy Frazer, the Culture Secretary said the Princess of Wales deserved “privacy” amid the increased speculation.
Speaking to LBC on Tuesday, Ms Frazer said: “She is a remarkable lady and I think we should give her a bit of privacy...at the moment she is recovering from an operation and I think we should respect her privacy.”
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The chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has suggested that the general election could be held in October, as speculation continues over the question of when the UK might go to the polls for a national vote.
Prime minister Rishi Sunak last week ruled out a snap election on 2 May, when voters are due to head to the polls in local elections across England.
He has previously said that his “working assumption” was that he would hold a vote in the second half of the year, but has not yet confirmed a date.
Speaking in the House of Commons on Tuesday afternoon, Mr Hunt suggested that the vote could take place in October, as he was questioned on the government’s spending plans.
“And of course, if the general election is in October, that will mean it’s very, very tight, and that’s why we’re thinking in advance about the most important element of that spending review, which is the productivity element – how do we have more productive public services,” Mr Hunt told members of the economic affairs committee.
The chancellor addresses MPs on the Treasury committee earlier this month
(House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA Wire)
Earlier in the session, Mr Hunt, who faces a battle to hold onto his South West Surrey seat, also said that he hopes to hold “another fiscal event this parliament”.
Speculation about a 2 May election had reached fever pitch until Mr Sunak eventually ruled out holding one on that date.
Labour accused the prime minister of being too scared to go to the country as the Conservative Party trails the opposition by a double-digit margin in a number of opinion polls.
Talk then almost immediately turned to whether Mr Sunak could go to the polls in June, as former prime minister Theresa May did back in 2017 after claiming that the opposition parties were trying to jeopardise the government’s preparations for Brexit.
Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, has called on Mr Sunak to hold an election as soon as possible.
Earlier this week, allies of Mr Sunak said it was still the PM’s intention to call an election in the second half of the year, amid reports of a plot by Tory rebels to oust him from office over the party’s dire standing in the polls.
Jittery MPs from across the party were said to have met and held talks about replacing Mr Sunak as prime minister with Penny Mordaunt, the Commons leader, in a “coronation” – a move that would not involve a leadership contest.
Penny Mordaunt carries the Sword of State at the coronation of King Charles III last year
If followed through, the desperate bid would see the Conservatives impose their third consecutive prime minister on the country without calling an election.
But an ally of Ms Mordaunt denied there was a plot to install her as Tory leader, describing the plans as “nonsense”.
Sources told The Times that Mr Sunak would be prepared to call an earlier election as a means of avoiding another Conservative Party leadership contest.
Ben Wallace, the former defence secretary, warned the plotters that it was “too late” to oust Mr Sunak from office and that there was “no other alternative” to replace him.
“There comes a moment in time in the electoral cycle where you effectively put on your best suit, you stand up, and you march towards the sound of the guns, and you get on with it,” he told Times Radio.
