The Princess of Wales revealed on Friday that she has cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy, ending weeks of wild speculation and rumors.
Soon, the tone online changed from joking about Catherine’s alleged disappearance to sympathy and regret, with some expressing shame and others saying the princess deserved an apology.
“I think a lot of people who make jokes online will actually regret it,” freelance royal reporter Ellie Hall told CBC News.
“I think some well-known public figures who make tongue-in-cheek comments or jokes and post memes are going to feel really bad.”
Catherine, Princess of Wales, said in a video posted on her social media page that tests after surgery showed “cancer was already present” and that she was in the early stages of preventive chemotherapy.
Questions have continued since the surgery
Questions have been raised about Catherine’s health since Kensington Palace announced on January 17 that she planned to undergo abdominal surgery. At that time, she had not been seen in public since Christmas. The initial statement provided no details other than clarifying that her condition was not cancer.
But on Friday, Catherine revealed in a video message that further tests after the surgery showed “cancer was already present.” On the advice of her medical team, she said she has been receiving preventive chemotherapy.
“This is of course a huge shock and William and I have been doing everything we can to deal with and manage this privately for the sake of our young family,” she said, referring to her husband Prince William and their children, Prince George, Prince Charles Princess Lott and Prince Louis.
“As you can imagine, it took time. It took me some time to recover from major surgery before I could start treatment. But most importantly, we spent some time explaining everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in some way It was appropriate for them and reassured them that I was going to be okay.”
British Prime Minister Sunak said in a statement that Catherine “has been subjected to intense scrutiny and unfair treatment by some media and social media around the world.”
“When it comes to health issues, like everyone else, she must be granted privacy in order to focus on her treatment and be with her loving family.”
sudden change in tone
From the outset, Kensington Palace made it clear that Catherine was unlikely to return to public duties before Easter and would only provide an update “if there is significant new information to share.”
But in the information vacuum, people created their own theories, and the hashtag #KateGate trended online.
People posted tongue-in-cheek posts suggesting the princess was growing bangs or recovering from an injury. Brazilian Butt Lift.Many people speculate William may be having an affairCatherine’s illness may be much more serious than the palace is letting on, or joking that Camilla is going through her “salt-burning moment” and that she is playing a long game to destroy the royal family from the inside out.
It was great to see the passengers looking so happy and relaxed this morning. ✈️ pic.twitter.com/4u35dXnvhU
Some big companies and figures also got into the joke, taking part in a popular meme poking fun at a recent video of William and Catherine, which many believed was fake. Dublin Airport, for example, joked that the pair looked “happy and relaxed” in a photo it shared superimposed over the terminal.
Kim Kardashian jokes she’s going to find late-night talk show host Kate herself Stephen Colbert Spilling tea over rumors of an extramarital affair, The Washington Post published an editorial cartoon depicting Prince William manipulating his wife’s puppet in front of a palace window.
Even the King of the Netherlands made a Photoshop joke that appeared to be a reference to a Mother’s Day photo of Catherine and her children, which it was revealed has been edited and retracted by multiple news organizations.
In light of the princess’s diagnosis, the tone online quickly turned to one of shyness.
One person wrote on
“OMG we are all a bunch of assholes,” wrote other.
I hope Kate makes a full recovery – and can’t help but reflect on how poorly she was served by the Buckingham Palace PR team. They let speculation & rumors run rampant for weeks…then threw a cancer patient and young child under the bus because the photo manipulation was messed up!
News “Nobody Wants”
“This is absolutely the news that no one wants,” royal correspondent Hall told CBC News.
Many people online also expressed anger and frustration as Catherine blamed herself for the Mother’s Day photo debacle, stating she enjoyed experimenting with photo editing and apologizing for the chaos caused while she was suffering from cancer.
Royal commentator and historian Carolyn Harris said there was a time when the health of members of the royal family was a source of widespread concern. But the frenzied social media hype surrounding the Princess of Wales in recent weeks suggests that the “wide public” around the world is taking speculation to new heights.
“All she really wants is privacy,” royal commentator Edward Wong told CBC News. “It has been very difficult to have these rumors and conspiracy theories about her circulate on the Internet and around the world over the past two months.”
He said the news would now hit many people hard, given the “insatiable interest” in knowing the details of her condition.
“As someone who would make such speculation without considering that this could be a serious medical condition, I’m honestly very ashamed and wish her all the best.” wrote User on X.
“Perhaps the media can now stop deciding whether she is too thin or too puffy, too neat or too shabby, too secretive or too desperate for public recognition. Even a royal lady, even the royal grail of Britain’s future king, deserves a little humanity, ” said an opinion writer in the Washington Examiner on Friday.
“Catherine deserves all our prayers, if not an apology.”