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.

Her father-in-law, King Charles, has also been dealing with health issues — due to his recent cancer diagnosis — but he’s been able to carry on just fine … already being seen out and about.

Good to see Kate here … now we all know, she’s alive and well!