It was a sunny day in London the morning after Catherine, Princess of Wales (aka Kate Middleton) announced she had cancer. After weeks of drizzle, it feels like spring in the capital. (Later, it hailed.) Since the senior royal disappeared from public view in January, speculation about her health — some of it true, most of it gleeful and unhinged — has seemed to intensify. -it is finally over.at 6 o’clock afternoon Last Friday, as many people headed to the pub, Kensington Palace posted a short video on Said she was undergoing cancer treatment.
“It’s been a very difficult few months for our entire family,” Catherine said in the video. She was wearing a striped sweater and jeans, and her hair was as flawless as ever. She looks a little tired. “I had major abdominal surgery in London in January and my condition was not thought to be cancerous,” she said. “The surgery was successful – however, post-surgery tests revealed that cancer was already present.” Her medical team recommended “preventative chemotherapy” and she is now in the “early stages” of that treatment. At this point, she stopped and clasped her hands together, as if she was gathering strength. The news caused “a huge shock”. She and Prince William have been “making every effort to handle and manage this matter privately for the sake of our young family.” “As you can imagine, this is taking time,” she continued. “It took me some time to recover from the major surgery before I could start treatment. But most importantly we spent some time explaining everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that suited them and reassuring them that I would be fine. of.”
The news comes after a busy month of news and non-news about the princess. The royal’s last official engagement was over Christmas, when she and her family waved to crowds on their way to church at Sandringham. That time, she wore a long blue coat and looked very healthy. Then, on January 17, Buckingham Palace revealed that she had been admitted to hospital for unspecified “abdominal surgery” and would not be seen in public again until at least Easter. As the weeks went by, people on the internet were getting restless. “Where’s Kate?” became a strange parlor game and an irritant for conspiracy theorists. Is the princess hiding because of a bad haircut? collapse? An affair?
Finally, on Mother’s Day in the UK, Buckingham Palace released a photo taken by William of Catherine and the couple’s three children. The photo, posted on Kensington Palace’s X account, is stunningly adorable. All three kids were smiling for the camera (no small thing), and Catherine seemed to be radiating happiness. However, conflicts soon emerged. There’s something weird about the zipper on the princess’s jacket, and there’s a weird blurring around Charlotte’s sleeves. On TikTok, one user pointed out the similarities between the outfits in the photo and those worn by members of the royal family at earlier events. Shortly after the image was published, news organizations including the Associated Press and Reuters issued takedown notices, citing manipulation. Cue hysteria.
People who claim something is wrong online feel vindicated.Those who dismiss those who claim there is a problem online have to admit: something used to be leave. News that the photo had been doctored, and further news that Buckingham Palace would not release the unedited photo, inflamed matters to the point where a rare apology was issued on March 11. “Like many amateur photographers, I occasionally try my hand at editing,” read a post on the Palace’s X account. “I would like to apologize for any confusion caused by the family photo we shared yesterday.” It was signed with a “C” for Catherine.
Interest in the princess’ case showed no signs of abating last week.On Monday, TMZ and sun Posted grainy video of William (baseball cap) and Catherine (legs, sneakers) carrying shopping bags at a farm stand in Windsor. Online, some immediately questioned the legitimacy of the video, claiming based on scant evidence that the woman was a stunt double or a hired actor. This sparked a series of memes in which commoners like Kate were drafted in to play royals. “White brown women all over London are traveling to audition for the role of Kate Middleton this week,” one user wrote, above is a video of the chaotic pile-up at the bottom of the escalator. Then, on Tuesday, it was revealed that privacy watchdog the Information Commissioner’s Office had launched an investigation into the hospital where Catherine had surgery in January over a possible data breach. At least one staff member allegedly attempted to access the princess’s medical records. (The hospital’s CEO said in a statement: “We take great pride in providing excellent care and discreet service to all of the patients who trust us every day. We have systems in place to monitor the management and management of patient information and if any Violations will be subject to all appropriate investigative, supervisory and disciplinary measures.”)
The news that the princess has cancer has been like a drop of cold water in the hot debate over the past few weeks. What follows is a blame game. (No one wants to be accused of making fun of cancer patients.) On the “News Agent” podcast, British journalist Jon Sopel called the video “a message to amateur sleuths, conspiracy theorists, speculators, people who Fantasists, please shut up, let her get better, let her heal.” The British tabloids took an aggressive stance, sun The headline was “Kate, you are not alone.” Online, a lot of people felt bad. Actor Blake Lively has apologized; earlier this month, she posted an apparently photoshopped photo of her with an oddly elongated thumb, spoofing a Mother’s Day photo of Catherine. On “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” the host expressed remorse for pulling out a tea trolley to “spill Kate’s tea” in a previous episode.
Others were less contrite, accusing the palace of shoddy communications strategies and a lack of transparency.Several columnists, including Philadelphia’s Will Bunch inquirer”, bristling at the suggestion that the public should be ashamed “when the royal family’s Nixonian PR tactics all but implore them to speculate.” He wrote that these nonsense talkers “ignore the reality that most people on the Internet What was said – that Kate’s illness was certainly more serious than the bland and occasionally misleading claims made by Kensington Palace – turned out to be true. Paddy Haverson, a former adviser to Kate and William, told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg that both social and mainstream media are in “some kind of perpetual doom loop” surrounding the royal family. “That’s my opinion. The worst situation I’ve ever had,” he said.
Kensington Palace apparently hopes to put an end to the rumors with this video. Journalist Elizabeth Holmes, who wrote the So Many Thoughts subset and published a book on royal style, told me, “This is not the royal video that we’re used to seeing, you know, The late queen or current king is sitting at a table that looks resplendent.” She pointed out that the palace hired a third party – BBC Studios – to film and that the video was shot continuously and appeared to be unedited. “All of this points to the fact that this video is the result of the past few weeks.” Catherine’s choice of clothing was also telling. “We’ve seen her in jeans and a striped sweater countless times before,” she said. “It’s a way of looking very recognizable, very relatable, very down to earth.” She continued, “This is not the sparkling Princess Catherine that we see at coronations or any solemn occasion. This is a The mother of three, sitting there, was essentially begging for space and privacy while she recovered and received treatment.”