Facebook Bans Kate Middleton — No, Not the Famous One, the Other One

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The social-network giant most definitely does not “like” this.

Imagine, if you will, the plight of 29-year-old health care assistant Kate Middleton. Just when she was getting used to being not even the best-known Kate Middleton among her family and friends, Facebook threw a most unwanted wrench in the works by accusing her of being an impostor and suspending her account, all because she dares to share her name with the future Queen of England.

(See a TIME video on turning Kate Middleton into Princess Kate.)

Coincidences abound in this strange case. First, this Kate Middleton is no impostor, but she does live in a place called Kingsway, in the U.K. Adding fuel to the “you couldn’t make this up” nature of this story, she works at St Andrews Healthcare (the soon-to-be princess met Prince William at St Andrews University, in Scotland).

Middleton (the non-future-royal one) is puzzled by what’s gone down and says that Facebook “should have got in touch with me first, asked me to contact them within a set period of time and prove who I was.” She says she’s “trying to arrange a 30th birthday party in February” and now “can’t get in touch with half the people,” and points out that “anyone with the misfortune of sharing a name with a major celebrity and a Facebook profile must surely also face the risk of being labeled a fake.” Indeed, the BBC reports that another Kate Middleton (this time, a mother from Kent, in southeastern England) is suffering the same fate at the hands of Facebook.

(See pictures of Facebook’s headquarters.)

Facebook maintains that it’s looking into the issue, but there remains one final twist in health care assistant Middleton’s story: her partner’s name is Jonathan Ross, like the famous British television presenter. But he hasn’t been accused of being a fake, which probably indicates that Ross’s stock (the famous one, not Middleton’s partner) has fallen considerably since he left the BBC. Perhaps the celebrity Ross will be barred from Facebook out of suspicion of being the impostor of Kate Middleton’s partner. (via the Daily Mail)