>Proof of life?

https://www.tmz.com/2024/03/04/kate-middleton-seen-spotted-public-first-time-mystery-hospitalization

KATE MIDDLETON SPOTTED IN PUBLIC FOR FIRST TIME Since Hospitalization

Kate Middleton has surfaced for the first time since her hospitalization earlier this year that sidelined her for a good while – and she's maintaining a low profile … or trying to anyway.

The Princess of Wales was seen riding passenger Monday in a vehicle that was being driven by her mother, Carole, near Windsor Castle in the UK … and like we said, this sighting is a big deal considering we haven't seen her whatsoever since December.

Kate was wearing shades, and appeared to be rocking somewhat of a smile here – there didn't appear to be any other relatives with them for this outing … and ditto for security.

It's interesting that she's popping up like this right now … frankly, the internet has been rife with speculation these past couple weeks over her whereabouts – and there's been a lot of jokes made at her expense.

Point is though … people have been wondering where the heck she was and how she was doing – especially since the condition she's been dealing with has been kept under tight wraps … with Royal officials only saying she underwent abdominal surgery and nothing else.

Buckingham Palace only said at the time that she would remain hospitalized for about 2 weeks – and after that, she wouldn't be able to resume her duties until about Easter time.

They also reassured the public that she was making progress in her recovery – something they reiterated last week when they finally responded to all the viral conjecture going on.

We know Prince William has been coming to her side throughout all this – he was seen going to the hospital while she was in there … but since then, he's continued on with his work solo.

Wall Street's big retreat from DEI: Banking giants including Goldman, Bank of America and BNY Mellon slash black-only events for inclusive ones and mull the end of diversity quotas

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13155265/goldman-sachs-bank-america-bny-mellon-dei-effort-cuts.html

• Major Wall St institutions are scaling back DEI programs and diversity targets

• The moves follow a conservative backlash and fears the] institutions could face 'reverse discrimination' lawsuits

• Experts say the DEI boom is 'past the peak' and companies are at an 'inflection point' after a rush to roll out programs following the BLM movement

Major banks are scaling back DEI programs and reconsidering diversity targets amid a conservative backlash and fears they could face 'reverse discrimination' lawsuits.

Financial heavyweights including Bank of America and Goldman Sachs are among institutions which have overhauled inclusivity programs which exclusively focused on women and minorities to now accept people from all backgrounds.

The pattern follows others multinational companies, including Zoom and Tesla, which have also dampened their enthusiasm for diversity, equity and inclusion through measures including cutting DEI departments.

Some of the steps are in response to fierce public criticism of DEI schemes by political leaders and business heavyweights. But institutions also fear lawsuits which claim programs that exclusively benefit minorities are a form of reverse discrimination.

'We're past the peak,' Subha Barry, former head of diversity at Merrill Lynch, told Bloomberg, which analyzed Wall Street's retreat from DEI initiatives.

Elon Musk has labeled DEI 'just another word for racism'

At Goldman Sachs, changes include opening its 'Possibilities Summit' for black college students to those from all backgrounds.

Bank of America has also opened internal schemes previously targeted at women and minorities to all staff. The bank said it has 'not eliminated any bank-sponsored D&I sponsorship programs'.

Meanwhile, executives at Bank of New York Mellon are reportedly looking at ditching workforce diversity targets after lawyers recommended they are scrapped. The firm is also said to be looking at whether to end bonuses linked to diversity progress.

The percentage of black senior executives at the country's top banks remains far below the population of black people in the United States.

At JPMorgan Chase, about five percent of senior leaders are black. At Goldman Sachs, the figure is 3.7 percent, while at Citigroup it is 8.7 percent. Black people make up around 14 percent of the country's population.

BNY Mellon, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs told Bloomberg that they remain committed to inclusive workplaces with employees from diverse backgrounds.

Diversity, equity and inclusion programs have increased at American businesses for more than a decade but exploded in popularity following the murder of George Floyd in 2020 and the nationwide racial justice campaigns which followed.

The rise has led to criticism from politicians right-leaning business leaders who said the programs were discriminatory to white people.