Kate Middleton is No Longer Perfect
Prince William’s college girlfriend, who became the fairytale Princess Catherine, is now the most gossiped about woman in the world
Kate Middleton has been in the global spotlight for over 20 years and— remarkably— never made one wrong move. She was the most perfect member of the British Royal Family. She avoided controversy, smiled broadly at public events and was extremely popular.
Now, Princess Catherine has become the most hotly debated and gossiped about woman on earth. What went so wrong for the future queen of England?
Sudden Surgery
Kate’s first public show of weakness came when Kensington Palace announced on Jan. 17 that she had “planned” abdominal surgery the day before that would require two weeks in a hospital, followed by recovery through Easter.
(There is a possibility from this video tweet that Kate was actually rushed to the hospital on Dec. 28.)
Kensington Palace is no longer a trusted news source- AFP
This was shocking because it was so extremely out of character. Kate had always been athletic and was beloved for joining in sports (field hockey, sailing, running) at her public events. Her physical strength was on show after each of her three children were born. She did a photo op that same day, wearing heels and smiling.
She looked stunning at Christmas with her family (above) and just days later was too sick for public events for months.
The Mystery Illness
What were the possible medical reasons for such a lengthy hospital stay for a seemingly healthy, 42-year-old?
Kate said in a statement that it was her wish that “her personal medical information remains private.”
That didn’t stop the guessing but pushed it into anonymous Twitter/X accounts and friend group chats because no one wanted to call out a medical condition that could be embarrassing.
(The most common theory on social media was she had a resection of some sort and then a temporary colostomy bag. Nurses chimed in on Reddit to say those procedures matched the timing of the missing princess.)
Princess Catherine had become a spokeswoman for various important issues. So many asked why she wouldn’t use this opportunity to raise public awareness of whatever ailed her.
It was glaring compared to King Charles, who announced the same day that he had to be hospitalized for an enlarged prostate. A spokesman said the king decided to tell the public about the surgery in advance in an effort to encourage other men to have their prostates checked.
Charles reportedly visited Kate as they were in the same hospital, but no photo was released. Prince William was seen just one time (above) driving to the hospital to visit her. Her children have not been seen publicly since Christmas.
The Lengthy Recovery
Kensington Palace finally said on Jan. 29 that Kate had left the hospital to return home to Windsor and was “making good progress.” But as February dragged on with no sightings of Kate — who was supposedly working from home— the gossip turned to bigger conspiracy theories.
A Spanish reporter said Kate was in a coma. The palace actually denied that. Social media users wondered if Kate was dead.
Was she dropping out of the royal duties (like her mother-in-law Princess Diana did before) and leaving William? This theory is based on a longtime rumor that William had an affair with Kate’s friend Rose Hanbury.
Kate’s absence during all of February was in contrast to King Charles who was diagnosed with an unnamed type of cancer but has continued to attend some public events and share photos of meetings at home.
Many wondered why the princess was no longer up to the task of tax-payer-funded royal life anymore. Is she really that sick or is she hiding something?
Kate spent her entire adult life avoiding drama and controversy. Now she was in the center of a whirlwind of negative attention.
The Weird Car Photo
Over a month after she left the hospital, paparazzi got a photo of Kate being driven by her mother. The British press did not buy the photo because it wasn’t authorized by the palace— back when that lent credibility and favor. TMZ in the U.S. ran it on March 4.
Kate (above) had a puffy face and wasn’t that recognizable. Social media users said it was Pippa or a body double. The princess and her staff could have publicly ignored these wild theories, but instead, they gambled on a PR stunt that changed forever Kate’s perfect reputation.
The Mother’s Day Photo
Kensington Palace released the photo of Kate and her children to news media on March 10, which was Mother’s Day in the U.K. At first, everyone was happy and relieved to see her again and looking healthy.
Catherine signed a note with the photo on social media. It said William, the Prince of Wales, took the photo. The palace told the media that the photo was taken within the past week. It seemed old Kate was back and the perfect family restored.
But the excitement over seeing a seemingly healthy princess was short-lived as social media users pointed out the glaringly obvious photoshopping. The tweet at the top of my story shows all the photoshopping mistakes in the photo.
This was not about the type of editing we all do— blurring facial lines or fixing stray hairs. The majority of the edits are in the center of the photo which some think means Kate changed her own face for vanity reasons. That would make her complicit in a big lie.
Also, Kate was not wearing her wedding or engagement rings, which she has never done in public in the past. That added to the theory that her marriage is on the rocks.
News Media Backlash
Just hours after the social media alarm bells, all the major wire services— AP, AFP, Reuters, AFP et al— issued a rare “photo kill” because Kate’s photo had been “manipulated.” This meant news outlets around the world had to pull the photo from their publications.
A photo kill is a rare journalism move that is only done when a photo has been altered in a way to be disinformation.
The head of the AFP told the BBC on Wednesday that, “The previous kills we’ve had have been from the North Korean news agency or the Iranian news agency.” He also said Kensington Palace is no longer a trusted news source.
“The big issue here is one of trust and the lack of trust—or the falling trust—of the general public in institutions generally and in the media,” said the AFP’s Phil Chetwynd.
“And so it’s extremely important that a photo does represent, broadly, the reality that [it was taken in], and therefore it is not, in a sense, telling some kind of lie or some kind of false truth around an event that happens.”
The AP said the “image revealed inconsistencies” that included “the alignment of Princess Charlotte’s left hand with the sleeve of her sweater.” (Read the full AP statement on its policies here.)
Kate’s Apology Mistakes
I’ve written in the past about my experiences in crisis communication. This is defined specifically as a way to deal with the media when your reputation and integrity are on the line.
The first thing to do is get out all the facts and information available. Catherine did not do this…