The weather was bright and sunny in London the morning after Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, announced she had cancer. After weeks of grayness and rain, it felt like spring in the capital. (Then there were cheers.) It seems like the frenzy of speculation about the health of senior royals since they disappeared from public view in January, some of it genuine, much of it hilarious and carefree. It seemed like it had finally come to an end. At six o’clock afternoon Last Friday, just as many people were heading to the pub, Kensington Palace released a short video on He sits there and calmly explains that he is undergoing treatment for cancer.
“The last few months have been incredibly difficult for our entire family,” Katherine said in the video. She is wearing a striped sweater and jeans, and her hair is snow white as always. She seems a little tired. “I had major abdominal surgery in London in January, and at the time my condition was not thought to be cancerous,” she says. “The surgery was successful, but post-surgery tests revealed that cancer was present.” Her medical team recommended a course of “preventive chemotherapy” and she is currently undergoing treatment. is in the “early stages” of Here she stops and presses her hands together as if to conserve her strength. The news was reported as a “huge shock.” She and Prince William are “doing everything they can to handle and manage this matter privately for the benefit of our young family.” “As you can imagine, this took a while,” she continues. “It took me a while to recover from the major surgery and start treatment. But the most important thing was explaining everything in the right way to George, Charlotte and Louis and reassuring them that I would be okay. That means it took a long time.”
The announcement comes after a month filled with news about the princess and more. The royal’s last public engagement was at Christmas when she waved to crowds on her way to church at Sandringham with her family. On that occasion, she wore a long blue coat and looked her healthiest. Then, on January 17, the palace announced that she had been hospitalized for unspecified “abdominal surgery” and that she would not be seen in public again until at least Easter. revealed. As the weeks passed, people on the internet grew restless. “Where’s Kate?” It became a bizarre parlor game and a target for conspiracy theorists. Is the princess hiding because of her bad hairstyle? breakdown? Adultery?
Finally, on Mother’s Day in the UK, the palace released a photo of the Duchess Kate and the couple’s three children, crediting William. This image posted on Kensington Palace’s X account is stunningly beautiful. All three children were smiling for the camera (which is no easy feat), and Duchess Kate seemed to exude happiness. However, contradictions soon arose. There was something strange about the zipper on the princess’s jacket, and there was a strange blur around Charlotte’s sleeves. On TikTok, users pointed out similarities between the outfits in the photo and outfits worn by the royal couple at previous events. Shortly after the image was posted, news organizations including The Associated Press and Reuters issued takedown notices for the image, citing manipulation. Clues of hysteria.
Those who were claiming something was wrong online felt vindicated. The people who fired people for claiming online that something was wrong were forced to admit that: was off. Revelations that the photos had been altered, and further revelations that the palace would not release unedited photos, escalated the situation to such an extent that an unusual apology was issued on March 11. A post on the Palace’s X account said: “Like many amateur photographers, I also experiment with editing from time to time.” “We would like to apologize for any confusion the family photo we shared yesterday may have caused.” It was signed with a “C” for Katherine.
Last week, there was no sign of interest in the princess’s case waning.Monday with TMZ Sun They released a grainy video of William (baseball cap) and Catherine (leggings and sneakers) carrying shopping bags at a farm stand in Windsor. Online, some quickly questioned the legitimacy of the video, claiming, based on scant evidence, that the woman was a shadow warrior or a hired actor. This led to a series of memes in which commoners resembling Kate were called upon to play royal roles. One user said: “White women with brown hair all over London are on their way to audition for the role of Kate Middleton in this week’s Blurry.” I have written, above a video of a chaotic ballgame at the bottom of an escalator. Then on Tuesday, news broke that the Information Commissioner’s Office, the privacy watchdog, had launched an investigation into the hospital where the Duchess of Cambridge underwent surgery in January, citing a possible data breach. At least one staff member allegedly attempted to access the princess’ medical records. (The hospital’s CEO said in a statement: “We take great pride in the excellent care and discretion we seek to provide to all of our patients who trust us every day. We have systems in place to monitor the management of patient information and all appropriate investigative, regulatory and disciplinary actions will be taken in the event of a violation.”
The announcement of the princess’s cancer swept over the chatter of the past few weeks like a bucket of cold water. A game of moving fingers ensued. (No one wants to be criticized for making a joke about a cancer patient.) On the podcast The News Agent, British journalist John Sopel called the video “amateur sleuths, conspiracy theorists, and speculators.” To the merchants and fantasists, sit back and wait for her to get better and let her heal.” British tabloids adopted a positive, can-do attitude, Sun The headline: “Kate, you’re not alone.” Many people online felt sick. Actor Blake Lively has apologized. Earlier this month, the Duchess of Cambridge parodied Kate’s Mother’s Day photo by posting an obviously doctored photo of her with her thumb stretched out in a strange way. On “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” the host expressed regret for pulling out the tea wagon for “spilling the tea” about Kate on an earlier episode.
Others were less mortified, accusing the Palace of a sloppy communication strategy and lack of transparency.Some columnists, including Will Bunch in Philadelphia Questionerwas furious at the idea that the public should feel at least a little shame “at a time when the royal family’s Nixonian PR strategy has left the public speculating.” Finger-wagging people say, “The Duchess of Cambridge must be more seriously ill than what most people on the internet are saying, which is Kensington Palace’s bland and sometimes misleading statements.” turned out to be true,” he wrote. Paddy Harberson, a former adviser to Kate Middleton and Prince William, told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg that both social and mainstream media are stuck in “a kind of perpetual doom loop” around the royal family. he said. “This is the worst I’ve ever seen,” he said.
With this video, Kensington Palace clearly wants to put an end to this rumor. Elizabeth Holmes, a journalist and author of Substack’s “So Many Thoughts,” who has also published books on royal style, told me: The king is sitting at a desk that looks luxurious and golden. ” She noted that the Palace brought in a third party, BBC Studios, for filming, and that the video was one continuous shot and appeared to be unedited. “All of these things indicate that this video is the result of the past few weeks.” Kate’s choice of clothing also spoke volumes. “We’ve seen her wearing jeans and a striped sweater many times,” she said. “It was in a way that seemed very recognizable, very relatable, very real.” This wasn’t the glittering Princess Catherine. This was a mother of three, sitting there, basically begging for space and privacy while she recovered and received treatment.”
