Over the next weeks and months, there will be a lot of analysis of “why the internet was bad for talking about the Princess of Wales” and blame-gaming about who did what wrong. Multiple things can be true all at once: the online speculation about Kate absolutely became rude and unpleasant; Kensington Palace grossly mismanaged everything for months; and Buckingham Palace did little to step in and right the ship or provide cover, guidance or support for King Charles’s cancer-stricken daughter-in-law. If anything, we heard and saw repeatedly that Buckingham Palace was “quite enjoying” Kensington Palace’s disastrous public relations fiascoes, and Queen Camilla seemed downright gleeful at times as the “last royal standing.” I guess my point is that a lot of people are backtracking, including the king:
King Charles is supporting his daughter-in-law Kate Middleton amid her cancer diagnosis. On Friday, the Princess of Wales, 42, shared a personal video message that she is undergoing treatment after post-operative tests following her abdominal surgery in January “found cancer had been present.”
Charles, 75, who is also undergoing cancer treatment, is “so proud of Catherine for her courage in speaking as she did,” a Buckingham Palace spokesperson tells PEOPLE.
King Charles and Princess Kate were both hospitalized at The London Clinic in January, and the monarch has “remained in the closest contact with his beloved daughter-in-law throughout the past weeks,” the spokesperson adds. Both King Charles and Queen Camilla “will continue to offer their love and support to the whole family through this difficult time.”
Something I keep thinking about is how few times Charles has seen William and Kate in person this year. Charles reportedly checked in on Kate at the London Clinic in January and no one said William was there. There were also reports that Charles and William saw each other in Sandringham in February. But beyond that… are they just emailing? Talking to each other through staff? Meanwhile, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also released a statement:
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Friday that Kate, the Princess of Wales, should be afforded the privacy to focus on her treatment and be with her family, following news that she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy for cancer.
“The Princess of Wales has the love and support of the whole country as she continues her recovery,” Sunak said in a statement. “She has shown tremendous bravery with her statement today. In recent weeks she has been subjected to intense scrutiny and has been unfairly treated by certain sections of the media around the world and on social media. When it comes to matters of health, like everyone else, she must be afforded the privacy to focus on her treatment and be with her loving family.”
There were other public statements of support for Kate, including tweets from President Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden as well. The Bidens regularly contact public figures dealing with cancer, especially after Beau’s death.
Jill and I join millions around the world in praying for your full recovery, Princess Kate. https://t.co/jtLp8Uo23d
— President Biden (@POTUS) March 23, 2024
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.
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- Image Licensed to i-Images Picture Agency. 12/11/2023. London, United Kingdom. Queen Camilla and Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales , at the Remembrance Sunday Service at The Cenotaph in London.,Image: 821566588, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Licenced to i-Images Picture Agency. All Rights Reserved. UK copyright law applies to all print & online publications. i-Images space rates apply to all images. Magazines contact agency for fees before use. Images Single use only then repro fees apply. Info@i-images.co Tel: 07860204379, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Stephen Lock / i-Images / Avalon
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- HRH King Charles III, Queen Camilla, William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Prince of Wales receive President of South Korea Yoon Suk Yeol during the state visit ceremonial welcome at Horse Guards Parade in London, UK, 21 November 2023,Image: 823461541, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Alpha Press / Avalon
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- King Charles III and Queen Camilla attend Christmas Day service at St Mary Magdalene church, Sandringham, United Kingdom, on 25 December 2023.,Image: 832317050, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Arthur Edwards / Avalon
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- EMBARGOED TO 2200 FRIDAY FEBRUARY 23 King Charles III reads cards and messages, sent by well-wishers following his cancer diagnosis, in the 18th Century Room of the Belgian Suite in Buckingham Palace, London. Following the announcement of the King’s cancer diagnosis, the Correspondence Team at Buckingham Palace have received more than 7,000 letters and cards form across the world. The King has been sent a selection in his daily red box of paperwork.,Image: 849992053, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Jonathan Brady / Avalon
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- EMBARGOED TO 2200 FRIDAY FEBRUARY 23 King Charles III reads cards and messages, sent by well-wishers following his cancer diagnosis, in the 18th Century Room of the Belgian Suite in Buckingham Palace, London. Following the announcement of the King’s cancer diagnosis, the Correspondence Team at Buckingham Palace have received more than 7,000 letters and cards form across the world. The King has been sent a selection in his daily red box of paperwork. Picture date: Wednesday February 21, 2024.,Image: 849992054, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Jonathan Brady / Avalon
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- London, UK, 06 March 2024: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appears on screen via videolink during a virtual audience with King Charles III at Buckingham Palace in London.,Image: 854360057, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Victoria Jones / Avalon
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- Commonwealth Day Service At Westminster Abbey Featuring: King Charles III, Camilla, Queen Consort, Prince William, Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: London, United Kingdom When: 13 Mar 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- Members of the British Royal Family attend the Christmas Day service at Sandringham Featuring: Catherine Princess of Wales, Princess Charlotte, Prince George, Prince William, Prince Louis, Mia Tindall Where: Sandringham, Norfolk, United Kingdom When: 25 Dec 2023 Credit: Cover Images
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- King Charles III and Queen Camilla depart The London Clinic in central London where King Charles had undergone a procedure for an enlarged prostate Featuring: King Charles III and Queen Camilla Where: London, United Kingdom When: 29 Jan 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- King Charles III and Queen Camilla leave Clarence House in London following the announcement of King Charles III’s cancer diagnosis on Monday evening. The King has been diagnosed with a form of cancer and has begun a schedule of regular treatments, and while he has postponed public duties he “remains wholly positive about his treatment”, Buckingham Palace said Featuring: Queen Camilla, King Charles III Where: London, United Kingdom When: 06 Feb 2024 Credit: James Manning/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- King Charles and Queen Camilla attending St Mary Magdalene Church on the Sandringham estate. Featuring: King Charles and Queen Camilla Where: Sandringham, United Kingdom When: 18 Feb 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- Sandringham, UNITED KINGDOM – Members of the Royal Family attend Christmas Day service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk. Pictured: King Charles III and Queen Camilla BACKGRID USA 25 DECEMBER 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
The rewriting of history has begun.
It’s quite nauseating how they are turning her into a saint -martyr while weaponising her diagnosis to attack the Sussexes.
Exactly weaponising her diagnosis to attack the Sussexes .
Exactly. It reminds me of how they used the Queen’s funeral to abuse Meghan. Not only that, they put out all these fake photos, a fake farm video, and now they are the victims? I blame them all, Kate, William, Charles, Camilla, for this. Zero sympathy from me.
Do I feel bad she has cancer? Yes, the same i would feel for any other human. Is Kate still a royal Karen ? Yes , 1000 times yes. Her illness is being weaponize to paint Meghan as the bad duchess . It’s also being used to try to Shame anyone who dare to question where she was. Well I am not about the nonsense. KP under her husband leadership f-up. I hope she gets better for her children sake but her life isn’t worth more that the thousands of other women who are diagnosed with cancer every single day and most who don’t have access to a quater of the healthcare she does . So yes , feel bad that she has been struck with this terrible disease but don’t make this woman out to be a saint. I was not talking to you guys , I was just venting about how some in the media and some celebrities and some other regular folks are acting.
@jks 🎯 I was going to post the same thoughts.
So, maybe I can get an answer once and for all.
The way Kate was talking in her video message, I understood that the mass/tissues removed during the surgery she allegedly underwent in January were discovered to be cancerous. Meaning, she does not have cancer any longer and the preventive chemo treatments she is receiving is to prevent the illness from coming back.
Was I the only one to understand things that way and is annoyed people are talking about her having cancer as if it is CURRENT and not past tense?
This bothers me, because Charles is being treated (present) for cancer he has and immediately came forward about.
I have troubles believing anything when it comes to Kate after all the clownf*ckery, lies, back and forth, frankenphoto and staged false videos.
@Bellaluna Yes and no.
Kate had surgery.
Cancer was found in the tissue that was removed during surgery.
They don’t know if she may have cancer cells floating around her body.
She is doing chemo to nuke her system which will kill random cancer cells in an attempt to keep them (if they exist) from growing and attaching to some area of her body.
So the chemo is considered preventative because they don’t know if there are cancer cells floating around. Also, they might suspect that there are cancer cells floating around but she isn’t saying that because it hasn’t been confirmed.
Salty Isle desperadoes need to STOP weaponising a cancer diagnosis to garner sympathy and cowardly kow-towing to Kate and the royal firm, ffs! Did Sunak ever wish peace, privacy and well-being for Meghan when she was pregnant with her first child in the U.K., and driven bts to suicidal ideation from being relentlessly attacked, belittled, and demonized 24/7 by the rotten British media?! Hell NO! 🙄😡
Exactly. The royals stoked the conspiracies and now act as if they have clean hands. They do not. And the rota are gorging themselves on snippy little pieces crying about anyone who made fun of the ineptness of the royals and turning that into an insult against Kate.
None of this would have happened had the royals made a simple statement early on, had Kate thanked people for support two months ago, had a simple, non-edited photo been released, etc. Any one of many very simple things that could have also maintained privacy could have been done.
But I guess that would not have given the rats something to write about for months to come.
I think this is going to be their tactic from here on out, to the end of time. They’re going to write about ‘poor Kate’ & ‘leave her alone, she’s got/had cancer’. Yes, it’s awful, and yes it’s a lot to deal with at any age or stage of life, with kids or no, but that doesn’t absolve anyone from their transgressions. They still, knowing her diagnosis, released and/or approved the release, of fake photos & videos, and they flat out lied to the public.
So Chuck praised his white daughter-in-law.
Has Princess Photoshop, who HAD cancer, shared any words of praise or sympathy for the one who HAS cancer, her dear father-in-law?
She’s very self-involved, proven by that speech. The perfunctory few words about strangers with cancer was just PR.
Esquire, her “you’re not alone” really bothers me.
Too many ARE alone.
Too many can’t get care, good, secure housing, let alone take months off “work” to recover.
Unpopular opinion, but I don’t spare a thought to her, or Charles.
My thoughts are with those without unlimited resources to have any peace of mind at all while dealing with cancer.
So she’s a mom, so are plenty of others. She’s a fraud & a fake & a mean spirited person.
I only have limited resources too, so I give them out carefully. She’s not o e of them.
Agreed 100% Kokiri, I posted longer, similar thoughts below. She failed to highlight her privilege, as though it is meaningless, when it is definitely not. I’ve had serious, chronic illness and the stress of having to continuing paying the bills is an horrendous chokehold that stultifies recovery.
I opined similarly to my mother yesterday. From one human being to another, I wish her well, but that’s where my compassion ends. You’d think she was the only person to have ever got cancer in the entire world. Yes, she’s young, but it happens and worse to others. She’s had a charmed life that she didn’t earn.
I defy anyone to tell me she didn’t know the hysteria and goodwill after fanning the flames for months as to what was wrong with her, including the fakery.
Kokiri I agree with you and your opinion on this completely. Her speech was self involved. I have had cancer and I was fortunate to have very good coverage but while I was in the chemo infusion room every Monday for 12 weeks I saw all kinds of different cancers and different people young and old. I went through it during the pandemic so I went in alone because you couldn’t bring anyone in. I never felt alone because I have a loving family who were there for me but I did see some without that kind of support who would talk to me and tell me their stories. The nurses did the best they could to cheer them up for the time they were there. Cant lives in a bubble away from most people. I doubt she has to have her chemo in with others so she really won’t get to experience the bigger picture.
Charles says whatever will gain him popularity and that will help rehabilitate his image. I wouldn’t take any proper notice.
I’m a terrible cynic, but this is the very thing that as PR person I would tell them to do to solve the PR mess they created. I wonder if they finally brought in someone competent enough solve their PR crisis.
They managed to make their critics look bad, hide the bad stuff they did behind it, then deflect toward the Sussexes to give them cover to try to cover up the mess they’ve been making for years (the fake pictures). This is way more competent than the usual KP blunders.
It does explain why they wanted to blame Kate for the pictures since they knew that they had this video ready to go to deflect from it like they are trying to do now.
It is really interesting to see two royals with cancer but one comm team handled it very well (BP) and the other bungled it terribly (KP). It would make for an interesting study.
I noticed Charles didn’t mention William at all. We’ve not seen them together nor heard a word about them sounding any time together save for a planted story on Feb.
Charles didn’t attend Kates Christmas thing and W and K didn’t attended Charles Christmas lunch.
Something is going on behind the scenes.
As from people trying to guilt trip the public for being right, well: lol. There was something going on, they did use a fake photo to cover it up, they are liars of the highest order. I don’t trust them on anything, although I do sadly believe she is getting “preventive chemo” and hope she recovers for her children’s sake.
Yes sadly, a lot of what’s transpired since Christmas has been a strategic PR move to erase negative press and attract sympathy.
It seems KP found value in the delay and speculation, and value in specifically revealing Kate’s past cancer, which was a CHOICE.
It’s interesting that KP dropped the past cancer bombshell only when the Rose rumours began gaining traction.
However it’s also wildly irresponsible of media to say “Kate has cancer”. She does NOT. She specifically said “there HAD BEEN cancer” and she is undergoing PREVENTATIVE chemo. By all accounts, Kate is already cancer-free.
Her statement implies she had a mass or an organ removed during the abdominal surgery (such as a hysterectomy and/or fibroids, for example).
It’s standard practice to biopsy removed tissue post op, and they found it wasn’t benign.
Seeing as it was removed, and there’s no other sign of cancer, she’s having PREVENTATIVE chemo to zap out any potentially lingering rogue cells from turning into cancer at a later date.
None of this explains why Camilla did her job (more or less) while her husband does have cancer. But Will wouldn’t do his job when he found out his wife didn’t have cancer. Nor why Willy was seemingly intoxicated at work.
Can you imagine if a regular person demanded 3 month’s sick leave after their spouse had routine surgery?
I know people who’ve had to work while having active cancer and undergoing chemo. Not that I wish that for anyone, but seriously folks, something’s very wrong with Will and Kate. Don’t be fooled. Even ass hats get disease. It doesn’t excuse their bad behaviour. And it doesn’t excuse the circus show they’ve been performing the last few months.
I think the hair-splitting of had/has cancer is a bit much at this point. I think while you’re undergoing chemo just to make sure & waiting for the all clear, is getting treatment for cancer. Had/has doesn’t matter in this instance. Once she’s through the treatment, gets the all-clear & at whatever specific intervals she has thereafter to ensure she’s clear, she’s a cancer patient. That part is fine.
All the rest of it, I agree, was not & is not fine. They lied & will no doubt continue to lie. When I watched this video, I paused it to scrutinize her face & thought, yep, that’s Kate all right. And it’s due to their previous lies–from always really, but especially what they’ve been doing these past months–that I even had that thought of needing to verify that the woman in the video really is Kate. And she’s really, really skinny, more so than at any time in her past, so I do believe she’s been through what she’s been through. And again, I think those thoughts because of all the lying photos & videos they’ve put out recently. None of us would have these doubts had it not been for their actions. That’s on them, not on us.
@Olivia
You’re absolutely right.
All these descriptions of “cancer-stricken” when she specifically stated there “had” been cancer there.
It struck me because I was wondering how this could be – does cancer sometimes just resolve itself?!? So yeah I definitely noticed the “had” wording too.
I’m sure she got a fright alright but she did not state that she has cancer.
Don’t mind the one accusing you of hair-splitting. Words matter. Meaning matters. Some of us have an eye for detail and accuracy. And some of us don’t.
The only thing that is blatant for me is the clownesque Palace PR.
Their massive incompetence has forced a sick woman to shot a video and face a public attention.
Charles and William aren’t closed, but due to his condition is it possible that he has to limit the contacts with people?
They also released a statement saying Kate accepted responsibility for editing that photo, they threw a woman receiving chemotherapy under the bus, that’s the level these people sink to when protecting the heir.
Let’s keep repeating and louder for those in the back that no one has been worse to Kate than the BRF.
Right? If no one is mad about anything else, they should be outraged about this. The Palace threw woman undergoing cancer treatments under the bus for that photo mess. It’s appalling and speaks so poorly of the BRF.
Exactly. The focus was on William’s bizarre (and still unexplained) behavior and the lengths KP went to falsify their narrative.
Considering William wasn’t in the video quietly offering support I’m going to reiterate what I’ve been saying: William is nowhere near Kate and probably not near the children.
I hate to say it but his statement sort of irks me badly. Where was any statement of support for Harry and Meghan through a miscarriage, through revealing how much of a struggle it was against the media, when chased by paps, when undergoing racist attacks by the media?
This was my first thought as well – other than the statement signed by some MP, where were all of the statements of support for Meghan? As I said in the other thread, even when skinheads are convicted for plotting harm against her and Harry or Camzilla’s best friend is writing newspaper articles about how he wants Meghan to be paraded through the streets and assaulted, not one single peep. It’s really upsetting (and infuriating) to me.
Prince Harry did mention this in the Netflix series. He said that even after the female MPs and a whole raft of strangers spoke out, there was not a single member of his family who offered support (publicly or privately) and that it really hurt.
I completely agree, Sussexwatcher.
I read Charles’ statement as “beloved WHITE daughter-in-law.” It might as well have said that.
Didn’t they issue some comment about how personal matters won’t be commented on after her miscarriage?
The double standards are so grotesque.
I really don’t get why such a big deal is being made out of the cancer diagnosis. She said it herself: she HAD cancer. She’s just getting chemo to be on the safe side, which will probably have so little effect that her hair won’t even fall out.
Of course I feel sorry for her, cancer is never a nice thing. But as many professional doctors in America have said: the cancer was most likely removed during the operation. Not even Charles got so much sympathy. Why making such a big deal about Kate? After everything we know about her and her treacherous scheming, I’ve heard many people say it’s karma. Even if it’s a little bit to harsh..
I think this whole drama surrounding Kate, and the fact that Kate is trying to get sympathy with the story, is a slap in the face for every person who is really battling cancer and their families. I speak from experience, as my mother got bad cancer a few years ago while I was still at school.
And I really feel like England is spreading propaganda like in North Korea and Iran, with these threats that you’re not allowed to criticize Kate. It’s really scary.
“And I really feel like England is spreading propaganda like in North Korea and Iran, with these threats that you’re not allowed to criticize Kate. It’s really scary.”
THIS. 100%. It is scary indeed. It’s even extended to Australia. It’s going to get worse because we are overdue for a royal visit. The King is supposed to visit this year to see his Australian “subjects” since his accession.
This is how the monarchy has survived for over 1200 years – propaganda and silencing critics. We can’t get a proper debate on the monarchy in Australia, how are they supposed to in the UK?
WiththeAmerican, they did indeed. I don’t think they realise just how much damage this continued double standard is doing to their image. I saw quite a few Squaddies pulling up the receipts of reporters (Max Foster, CNN, Tominey, Vine, etc.) saying one thing about Meghan but now strenuously pushing the completely opposite narrative to gin up sympathy and support for Kate.
Lia, I agree with you 100%. The sleight of hand irks me too. Up until February, I been undergoing radiotherapy since November, following successful breast cancer surgery. I *had* cancer. The surgeons got all of it. The biopsies proved that before I began the course of radiotherapy. I certainly didn’t tell people that I “have” cancer during those procedures.
To be fair, she did say that she HAD cancer, it’s the propaganda machine which is the UK media which has been blaring headlines saying “Kate HAS cancer!”
Yeah, it makes you wonder – did BP know what was going on the whole time? some of their moves over the past few months seem……well, unseemly….in light of Kate’s diagnosis.
I am finding the whole “well now everyone should feel bad for speculating about Kate” to be ludicrous, to be honest. Yes, KP said she wouldn’t be seen until Easter and some say that should have been enough.
But then we have William pulling out of his godfather’s memorial 45 minutes before it began (with KP confirming it was not due to Kate’s heath), we have the pap pic of Kate in the range rover, we have the frankenphoto, we have KP pushing back on the MoD and the idea that Kate would be at Trooping (which now makes sense) and then we have that farm stand video where KP let people think it was Kate even if it wasn’t (and now I don’t think it was.)
Is it any wonder social media speculation went crazy? And most of those things were of KP’s own making. They didn’t have to release that frankenphoto, which is really what kicked everything into high gear, because it made people think “why can’t they show us a picture of Kate?” And that video made everything worse because if it WAS Kate, she looked healthy and happy and why wouldn’t she be at Trooping? And if it wasn’t Kate….then where was she?
KP could have managed this very differently from the start – if they had even just stuck to the “Kate won’t be seen until Easter” and then released a statement around Easter, it would have been very different.
So no, the press doesn’t get to blame people for the social media speculation when KP has been a hot mess for months.
If a public figure leaves gaps in the information they give the public, the public will fill those gaps. This debacle is on KP, not the public. All of this was completely unnecessary, but of course the wrong conclusion will be drawn. I expect the Waleses will double down on their opacity and laziness and use Kate has cancer as a way to shut down any criticism of their methods or work load.
The other thing I’ll say is – if Kate’s cancer was discovered after the surgery (and presumably after the initial announcement with the Easter return date) – why was William also taking months off as was briefed to the press at the time?
William being largely out of the public eye makes sense with Kate’s cancer diagnosis. Yes, its a privilege to be able to take off months to support your spouse in these kinds of situations, but I do think people understand it, especially with younger children, and if her treatment is more aggressive than they are letting on.
But it didn’t make sense if she was just recovering from surgery. I wonder if they knew about the cancer diagnosis when they made the announcement about the surgery, or was it really what we speculated, that William was just taking the opportunity to avoid work?
Yes Becks, you’re right. It doesn’t make sense. And when you pair it with the fact that she looked very ill through the fall, and was even wearing straight up wigs, it seems that her statement may have fudged the truth a little bit about how long they’ve known and what exactly is going on.
Lanne, Ita. In the age of social media, any information vacuum around one of the most famous women in the world will be filled by speculators, conspiracy theorists, and just plain nuts. This was totally predictable and, it seems, only KP didn’t anticipate it.
She would have had the pathology back within a few days to a week of the surgery, if she had the surgery when KP said she did. Then a perioed of post-op recovery time before starting chemo, so it tracks that she started chemo late Feb. However, none of this tracks with Huevo bouncing from Constantine’s memorial. So nice try, rota.
Also, isn’t it amazing how the rota’s first reaction is to absolve Huevo of that memorial ghosting? Must be something really interesting that they are so eager to cover up.
The only one to be blamed here is KP.
Agreed, this is entirely a mess of their own making. I am choosing to take solace in the ridiculously over the top “William’s love will carry her through” nonsense. Oh no, is he going to have to pretend to like his wife? Will no one think of the heir in his time of need?!?!?
Enjoy all of the love directed at Kate! That’s your hope for a divorce going down the drain.
@Christine, I think that’s why he was swaying at the investiture and skipped Constantine’s memorial. The future is nasty…in his mind.
I wish they’d rewrite their futures and release the kids from this BS. But it won’t happen.
Kate should be glad we made noise when nothing was adding up. Her announcement still doesn’t answer why KP released a Frankenphoto and why it didn’t deny the farm shop appearance, which definitely wasn’t Kate. KP let all that linger and now we have the rota trying to shame the public. Nope. They caused it. I’m not sure the circus is over, either.
Also, didn’t Willy say that Kate had two round the clock Filipino nurses? Why would she need that for chemotherapy?
At this point I think they aren’t denying the garden center photos because it’s not Kate and Will, so….why would they comment on the activity of two random? Note how quickly they said the photo with Carole was not authorized…that tells me it probably was Kate, and taken at approximately the time/place the paparazzi was claiming.
I’ve read articles saying that William begged off the memorial service because of Kate’s diagnosis. So, either William’s no-show is still a mysterious mystery or KP was outright lying. My bet is they were lying – it fits in with all the other lies.
I’m sorry Kate has to go through this and I wish her the best, but that doesn’t change the fact that KP is a shambles. It’s always been this way, but this time the effect was a lot of pain all around and the finger-pointing goes straight to William.
Yeah, the memorial service was Feb 27 (I was saying Friday that it was in March, which was incorrect), and KP also said to some of the rota that she started treatment in late February. So at a glance, it seems to fit, that he skipped the service because of Kate’s health. But do we really think they called the Prince of Wales at 9 am and were like “oh hey she has cancer?” and he was like “okay can’t go to the service?” I just find it hard to believe that he found out an hour before the service about her cancer. It’s not impossible of course, but I find it unlikely.
So maybe he knew before that and just didn’t bother to cancel until the last minute. Maybe they lied about it being related to Kate because they didn’t want to draw more attention to her health – but William canceling at the last minute put more attention on the Waleses anyway.
Or maybe William just didn’t want to go. There are so many possibilities.
But at the time, didn’t they say his absence had nothing to do with Kate’s health? I’m pretty sure that’s what his statement about cancelling said.
So his need for an extended absence after the surgery and his showing up in public (apparently) drunk don’t align with what they’re saying now about the timeline of her illness and diagnosis.
I don’t understand why it’s so hard for them to tell the truth. Or enough of the truth to where they’re not leaving these huge vacuums able to be filled by conspiracies.
It is William’s fault that the internet exploded in speculation. We’ve all seen how rudely he treats her — sour face when she mumbles, walking ahead, chivvying her in reception lines, hogging umbrellas. Then, never forget that he knew she was dealing with post-op healing and the dread of cancer and still let her fall on the sword for Frankenphoto. The future King of England is NOT a gentleman. He’s a whiny, vengeful psycho, in fact. So of course no one wants to buy what he’s selling. Now there’s a whole “the video is AI” faction because of that mistrust. I believe it’s real: yes, she was more articulate than usual but she was probably reading from a teleprompter. The way she moved her hands was totally in character though, if muted.
William skipping the service Monday still has never been explained. At the time it was personal reasons but not related to kate. But now they are briefing that it was related to Kate. There are still lies coming out of KP and any briefing they do behind the scenes should just be assumed it is a lie.
Sorry Becks, I doubt the majority of Brits [note: not those in post in the DM] do understand William just not working at all when he is not ill. Sure, taking lighter workload is understandable, but not working at all is poor form, especially considering KCIII’s cancer.
But I’ll defer to the Brits here. I’ll say that they ought not be so amenable.
William is the future King. Both he and Kate get millions from taxpayers annually, including unfettered access to palaces, castles and a “cottage” on the Windsor estate. All these residences require 24/7 security. There is contention about who actually owns the duchy properties.
W&K have around 50 staff members. The Middleton parents are retired. The children have long-term nannies they are close to. I’m not buying into the “hands on parents” BS. William can work, but he just lacks the commitment that is expected of him as next King. Kate may be sickly for the rest of her life.
Finally, British royals “rule” in the UK at the whim of the people. The Queen knew this and warned against conspicuous displays of wealth. There is a whole debate there, but since ordinary persons can’t just take off for months on end, nor should William. Let’s be honest, they don’t have the burdens that ordinary folk have. There are no excuses.
I think its “understandable” from the POV that most people would want to be able to do that – if my husband had cancer and was going through chemotherapy, and I was able to take off for months to help him and support him, I would. That’s what I think most people would understand.
BUT, like you’ve been saying, its a huge privilege to be able to do so and that is something that has been missing from KP’s statements from the beginning. It’s a privilege to be able to take months off to support your spouse going through chemotherapy – its a privilege to be able to take months off to support your spouse recovering from a surgery (the initial story.) And there is a complete lack of acknowledgement from KP about that.
I understand your point now, thank you; and perhaps it’s because I live under the monarchy, but I don’t think people ought to understand that these unelected freeloaders are gifted excessive time off. Where does it end? Does William want the top job or not?
You and your husband are not royalty and I assume you don’t have a retinue of 50 staff at your disposal. If people understand William having unlimited time off then they have fallen for the royal PR machine that “they are just like us”. They aren’t, never were and never will be. This dumbing down the monarchy is devaluing the currency. That’s what our republicans rely on.
Having said that, I do understand if William should like to cut back his duties. But this will not end well for the monarchy – unless she is terminal.
@Esquire – yep, conspicuous leisure is a form for displaying wealth ostentatiously! The sociologist Thorstein Veblen wrote about it back in 1899.
@Shawna, I have no idea who Thorstein Veblen is, but thanks, I’ll look him up. But I do understand the social contract between the royals and the public. They are given a life of luxury using an excess of public money and there is a price to pay for that. But, as others have opined, they want it all. They want to be ordinary when it suits their agenda, wilfully blind to the fact that ordinary folk can’t just quit work to look after a sick spouse, unless they want to suffer financial consequences.
William has pulled these stunts before. Right after marriage, he was delinquent twice on his duties. Once when he decamped to the Norfolk mansion, then when he wanted an adult gap year. The Queen was having none of it, and marched them back to KP, just as I believe she wouldn’t have any of this current shirking, particularly with the King having cancer.
Veblen’s chapter on conspicuous leisure: https://brocku.ca/MeadProject/Veblen/Veblen_1899/Veblen_1899_03.html
Does anyone else think it is weird that she was getting chemotherapy for a month and didn’t tell her kids ?
I know that everyone has a different way of dealing with cancer, but it seems to me it would be more worrying to a child to see a parent inexplicably ill than to wait to tell them for media concerns. BTW – I have kids the same age and have to get biannual colonoscopies because I am high risk for colon cancer so her diagnosis was particularly saddening for me.
I feel like they use their kids as an excuse to do what they want to do.
Yes, they use their kids for positive PR, but that’s at the core root of royalty – succession.
I thought she just started chemo? I’ve been working all weekend, so I might have misunderstood.
No, according to KP, she started in late February.
Lula08, It might, if I’m givIng them the benefit of the doubt, be a cultural thing. Here in the NLs, my friends going through cancer were encouraged to tell their children in an age-appropriate manner ASAP. Not before bed or first thing in the morning, but to make time for it. The thinking here is that kids pick up on it anyway, and you don’t want them thinking that they did something wrong, or have them hear it from someone else. In regular families kids are going to have to step up in these situations because they need to take over some household duties. I do think it’s odd that they weren’t quicker, but reading the Guardian (British newspaper), no one seems shocked.
Yes, I think it’s odd they waited this long. PR specialists point out how she mentioned her children as a way to morally signal to stop judging her, and it worked.
While plenty of regular people jumped in to say they understand why they waited three months to tell their children, she of the early years expertise should understand how damaging it is to kids to hide things like bad health. Add in that they are royal and therefore public figures, they don’t have the luxury of waiting because the public will speculate.
There are responsibilities that come with the perks of being royal, and being transparent to a degree about serious health issues is one of them.
We all want things to be a certain way, that doesn’t make them so. She is the next queen, that comes with a responsibility, she has to that role and to her people as much as to her kids.
I’m totally giving her a pass on this. There are a lot of parenting decisions where a multitude of responses can be seen as appropriate. As two parents who are not as bright as they could be, they might be approaching decisions about the children in a way that is well intentioned, but could be objectively not the best decision with the best outcomes. I don’t want to parent shame a bad but well intentioned decision. (Not saying that you are parent shaming.)
Kate is not an expert in anything, save social climbing and finding a way to never have held a job in her entire life.
Not really. It depends upon what they actually did tell the kids. I’m imagining that they told the kids that Kate was sick, that she had surgery, and that she would then have to have treatments with the goal of keeping her well and healthy long term. It’s possible to do this honestly — without using the words “cancer” and “chemotherapy “. If they saved those words —and the publicity that would accompany them — until a school break, I totally get that.
If they pretended that Kate was perfectly fine, in the face of clear evidence to the contrary, that would likely present huge problems — including anxiety and distrust. But we don’t know that they didn’t tell the kids anything at all — just that they took their time to do it in a way that they felt the kids would understand (at least according to Kate’s speech) and at a point when they might be most able to protect the kids from media influences as well as from the curiosity of their peers immediately following the public announcement.
Let’s not forget that KP explicitly briefed to the media that it was not cancer back in January. And that was intentionally deceptive.
And weird because….no one was thinking it was cancer. It’s like if my kid walks into the room and says “I DIDN’T DO IT” and I’m like…..”do what?” and then they just run out of the room. now I know “something” happened, they put that idea in my head. KP put the idea of cancer in people’s head by insisting that it wasnt cancer at the outset.
This.
Think of the internet insanity which would have been avoided, and the trust restored, if William/KP had done a simple update at the end of Feb that post operative testing had found cancer and that Kate and the family would need privacy and extended time off. Things had not quite gone off the rails then.
Yeah, two things in all of this that stand out as quite informative unforced errors are “it’s not cancer” with Kate, and that comment that Thomas Kingston’s death was not the reason that William skipped out on attending his godfather’s memorial service. As Becks1 notes, prior to those announcements, neither of those things had occurred to me. As it is now, I see KP as having appalling judgement— at best — and even wonder about the perfectly understandable decisions that Kingston’s family made following his death. Their behavior sharply piqued my curiosity when I’d really prefer to stay more focused on the clothes.
Yes, I wonder how much BP knew as well. All of those glowing stories about how Camilla was singlehandedly saving the monarchy seem a bit crass now, right? And nothing explains William’s behaviour throughout this whole ordeal.
Even if we take KP at their word that they didn’t initially realize they were dealing with cancer when they made the announcement, it seems odd then that William would need to take several months away, too. And if they did know it was serious in January, why not just say that? Kate’s dealing with a serious health issue, William is taking time off, too, and they request privacy at this time? People would undoubtedly have been curious but they would have understood.
Instead, it seems to me like KP consistently chose the worst course possible – they put out that vague statement about Kate’s “abdominal surgery” but told all of the reporters exactly where she was going to stay and for how long. If she was truly just learning about her diagnosis then, she had to do it surrounded by the press pack. Why would they do that? Plus, having alerted the press, you would think that William would at least have visited her every day, on his way home from the “school run”. Nope! I still don’t understand that. They could have released a statement once she had the surgery and they had more information – nobody expected to see Kate until the trip in February, so why not let her rest? Plus, William’s shaky appearances and cancellations only added to the noise.
And then, there was the tmz pap photo of Kate and her mother sitting in a car which KP leaned hard on the British media to not publish because it was “unauthorized”. Why not just let it go as an accidental “proof of life”, given that speculation was ramping up? Then, a couple weeks later, another TMZ video surfaces of the Wails skipping around the local farmer’s market, but that was “allowed”? What was the difference between these two images from KP’s point of view? And why not set up something earlier to quiet the speculation if that’s what they wanted?
Then – the Frankenphoto. Why pretend that it was taken “by William” “that week”? The palace has released obviously manipulated pics before, so I can see why someone thought they would get away with it, but allowing Kate to take all of the blame was a bad look then and even worse now! It was bad enough she had to write her own mother’s day message and post it, but putting the blame for the photo failure, the”kill notice” and the palace’s ensuing lack of credibility on the shoulders of someone who was maybe undergoing chemo? Unbelievable.
Finally, I agree that her cancer announcement was her best public speaking she has ever done, and it can’t have been easy. But I can’t help but think that this video could have happened a month ago and saved her a lot of needless anxiety and grief. But okay, what’s done is done –
why was she all alone on that bench? There’s no way that the TV producers would have wanted that, unless they were really going for pity. It’s almost like they expected William to be there, sitting with his wife and supporting her, holding her hand, or quietly looking on as she gave a very difficult, emotional speech. Otherwise why not put her in a comfy chair? Supposedly he’s at home to support her – so where is he?
Throughout all of this, KP looks like an absolute shambles and William comes off as a selfish and insensitive at best.
He doesn’t have an “at best.” He comes off as what he is, a dangerously self-involved, weak and stupid jerk. Ugh, he is going to be the WORST head of state, right up there with Bonesaw and Putin. That video is weird. He would have made her nervous being present. It seems to have been filmed in a studio, with a green screen turned daffodil hill behind the bench, with her reading off a teleprompter. I don’t quite believe it’s AI, but it’s definitely staged to the hilt.
His beloved daughter in law. Pitty Meghan could not be afforded the same grace and humanity when. She was at her lowest point in life and when she lost her baby. I hope some of these same people falling over themselves to wish Kate well remember what they did when Meghan was suffering. Otherwise their compassion isn’t equal for one and all
Meghan’ story is being written out of this discussion. The press is comparing Kate’s experience of the last month to Diana and Fergie’s but Meghan is not being mentioned.
Harry and Meghan lost a child and they treat that miscarriage as if it was nothing. The way Meghan has been dehumanized is disgusting.
I saw someone on Twitter maliciously attacking Meghan, and their main point was that you can’t compare a miscarriage to the horrors of cancer. I kept trying to convince myself I was misunderstanding, my brain wouldn’t let me believe someone would weaponize a dead baby, but yeah. They were, and it is a complete dehumanization of Meghan and Harry.
Comments were rightfully closed on her announcement video, but I just want to say that I was truly shocked by her announcement. I hope she fully recovers and I hope her kids are all right. KP will never be trusted again. This”royal” family lacks compassion and common sense.
And the. Unsubtle dig at Meghan with Charles adoration of Kate calling her the daughter he never had
Really makes you glad he never had a daughter, because how would he have handled the attention Diana’s daughter would have gotten? And if she chose not to put up with his bad behavior? I shudder.
I also took that as a dig to William, though, since he didn’t mention his own son at all.
Now William us being written up by fans like rebecca english as the bestest most compassionate classy husband that walked the earth.rewriting history indeed.
The eyes of the world are on him now, so he’d better show himself as the bestest most blah, blah, husband.
Too bad he could not make it for her video. Trying to spin that is not working outside of the sycophants.
The thing is, people knew that there was probably something bad behind why Kate was hidden away. They just guessed it was divorce, violence, or something embarrassing medically. People didn’t imagine that she was not making the very simple announcement she did on Friday, which would have guaranteed an immediate outpouring of sympathy. That there was no one to gently guide her to what needed to be done is a sign of how dysfunctional KP truly is.
But the pearl clutchers have me truly annoyed. No one was making fun of a woman with cancer. No one knew she had cancer and her disappearance was notable enough that it caused comment. It also caused the problems of the RF to become obvious and no longer swept under the rug.
What made me really laugh was the people talking about their having the most expensive PR. The whole issue here is that the only people working at KP are Tory toffs who don’t actually need a salary, because the pay is shite. If they had someone competent on staff who was able to speak freely to Will and Kate this never would have happened.
And for all of Kate saying that the delay was in telling the children, I’m convinced the demand for silence came from William. He couldn’t handle the news at all. Like so many women, she’s having to deal with her cancer treatments and managing her husband’s emotions about the situation.
Agreed, but I think they have lower level staff who are quite ordinary. I doubt the top paid staff are handling such low-level matters as SM and photo management. Also the American bloke was not a ‘Tory toff’.
The problem is that PR as a profession is the art of spinning BS. It irks me more than I can say, but I suppose people say that about lawyers too. But at least we have a proper legal base from which to spin BS.
People would have considered cancer had KP also not specifically said it wasn’t. So it is gaslighting to pretend that it wasn’t considered as possible when it was one of the only things they specifically ruled out.
That part makes their scolding even worse. They’re scolding people for believing them.
We get it, they’re big liars and we shouldn’t believe anything they say. But don’t blame us for believing them on the cancer denial.
With the announcement, I am always looking at what isn’t being said. With Kate, they never clearly state anything about “full recovery” or try to downplay by saying “caught early.” You would think that briefing would’ve went out on the backend as it did back in January to state she, at the time, did not have cancer. I keep wondering if Charles has been a bit of a red herring this whole time – announcing his cancer even if it’s perhaps not as advanced. My theory is that the fumbling and bumbling has been caused not by the cancer diagnosis for her, but perhaps a rather involved treatment plan ahead. I wasn’t one of those people who thought the video at the Windsor Farm was fake, but what did take me aback was people describing her as looking “happy & healthy.” She appeared happy, yes, but healthy…that I did not agree with.
We will definitely see and hear a lot of criticism about the evil internet people, and that will unfortunately drown out the sentiment behind a lot of the internet commentary from people who were genuinely worried for Kate. Even many of us here, who have no love for her, were concerned. BP has another problem in the fact that some of the darkest theories — in particular, that Kate was hiding away to hiding away to heal from DV injuries, or had an abuse-related breakdown — were very much believable. Not a good look for the heir.
There’s so much evidence something was badly wrong at KP, and there were pieces of evidence to back up many claims, even if that evidence wasn’t conclusive.
The British media gleefully added fuel to the fire with their “what happens if William commits a serious crime,” “Bryony Randall visits a fancy rehab clinic,” “who is Rose Hanbury” etc kinds of stories. They put down bread crumbs for non-Royal watchers so they could join in too.
Yes, Colbert didn’t suddenly decide to dig into gossip archives from 2019, the BM decided to make it news again.
YES! Colbert didn’t bring up Rose Hanbury on his own. The British press was laying a trail of breadcrumbs about it – which now, seems especially cruel.
This event has a lot of people scratching their head. It was so unnecessary.
There are laws and HR protocols in place when public figures who work for the government or public institution have to take a leave of absence . This is true for majority of people even for heads of corporations. Why do you think that is?
Because it’s a responsibility. There’s no need to share medical details in the case of illness and there are actual laws which guide HR how to handle such matter.
This isn’t rocket science. Many people around the world, from regular people, presidents, generals, actors, singers, prime ministers, kings and queens, to popes, have dealt with health issues before. There’s an official and acceptable way to manage this type of news without giving up privacy.
It’s not unreasonable to see why people are actually befuddled by the awkwardness of it all. Having young children isn’t a unique situation either. People manage to do these things everyday with young children. Sometimes, it’s a child who is diagnosed with cancer or other illness. Cancer is not a rare disease. People get sick, get injured every day. Even royals.
The duty to notify doesn’t mean giving up privacy. It’s about responsibility. It’s about basic courtesy to the people around you whom you rely on to support you. It’s also practical to notify because people and organizations relying on you need to know so they can make arrangements to plan for your absence.
Charles did it the right away. No drama and he lived up to the motto of “get on with it.” Also, enough about how unprecedented this is or protocol breaking. It isn’t unprecedented. Other royals managed to do this . The neighbor down the street managed it. The officemate next to you did it. The King of England just did it. The world hasn’t ended.
Yes, that’s the thing. One reason for having an organized system is so that people know what to do if something unexpected happens. If the reports are true that the KP staff didn’t know what was going on with Kate, then it sounds like William didn’t trust his own staff.
@catnip: agreed, 100%, that’s why I caveated that it’s a questionable assertion. Even in AU they have power by preventing Australians from electing their own head of state.
One of their greatest powers is the sycophantic media, including the BBC. No real debate can be had on the monarchy because there is no objective discussion or analysis. It’s like reading a romance novel, or a love letter from the press to the royals.
Our media is getting just as bad as the British, as is our obsequious PM, who, despite having appointed an assistant minister for the republic, has invited Charles to Aus and was grinning like a lovestruck teenager at the coronation, accompanied by his gluttonous, grifting girlfriend. But the drawcard of the royals is elitism, and it’s irresistible to most in power and the media.
Excellent post @catnip. But you are forgetting one thing. The royals are a law unto themselves. I suppose it’s difficult in that, from a constitutional perspective, their role is ceremonial. In reality, they have no power, though that is a questionable assertion. They don’t govern, like the Prime Minister and politicians. Only the monarch as sovereign is the head of state. But he isn’t a President.
The royals cherry pick responsibility, decency and courtesy. I mean, look at the photo of Kate turning her head away just last week or so. That was unedifying, she had to be dressed to go to an appointment. She wasn’t in her house clothes.
Like you, I used to think that the royals lacked political power.
But they actually have quite a bit of power. They are the most powerful family in the land. They used the power to benefit and protect themselves all the time. Look at the legal shields, the publicly financed protection services, the Mets, MI5 and MI-6, the public money, the Rota, the direct link to #10 Downing and Whitehall, the automatic red carpet treatment by other nations and billionaire club. They have at their beck and call a huge propaganda machine, which is the Rota and thus is able to spread words of their greatness and their spin to the world press.
It’s a lie that the British royals have no political power. They don’t have to schlep for vote. They can’t be voted out. Now, that’s real power every politician envies. It’s why Trump is so enamored by the British monarchy.
KP did the exact opposite of Keep Calm and Carry On with this whole mess, which was further highlighted by just how BP managed to get it right. And while some will try to say maybe Charles made them wait to say anything, let’s not forget that the doctored family photo was an own goal not needed.
@catnip, I wish there was a like button for your post!!
Great post, @catnip! It really should be a pretty simple HR matter. Unfortunately, as we saw from Meghan’s experience dealing with palace HR, these rules don’t really seem to apply to the Windsors.
One of the things I have been thinking about a lot lately is imagining how this story would have been handled for other kinds of public figures. Like if Kate were a Prime Minister’s spouse instead of the Princess of Wales? Both are somewhat taxpayer-funded and have public facing roles with certain duties. But I can’t picture any prime minister a. Giving so little information about the issue but taking indefinite leave b. Appearing as shaky as William did in his few public events c. Survive any of the fake Kate own goals of the last few weeks. A political party would have long ago forced a resignation, right? And I suspect a major corporation would have, too, if only to protect their brand and their CEO from making poor decisions under stress.
I have a feeling Kate and Charles were both diagnosed around the same time and it was decided that Charles would get to announce his diagnosis first, and then Kate. Maybe so as not to overwhelm the public with both having cancer at the same time, or perhaps so Kate’s diagnosis didn’t overshadow Charles. Who knows the reason, but I feel they would have known for awhile. Doesn’t matter either way though. Cancer sucks. I hope they both get well soon.
Absolutely this. Kate loves attention and sympathy, and there’s no way she would have sat on this for months unless she was being forced to. I think BP wanted charles to have all the attention, and got annoyed when the public only cared about MIA kate, finally allowing her to make a statement when things got too crazy to spin away.
That speculation that they were trying to spare the public might be believable if not for the doctored photo, first reported taken by Will and then the ridiculous apology which was begging to be memed. The photo KP insisted was Kate in the car with William, but her face turned away so what’s left is a lot of public speculation: Is it her or not? This after the car photo with Carole. Sorry, this reeks.
Should we even mention how KP ‘s narrative kept changing and confusing. How the Defense Ministry was treated poorly and publicly castigated for tying to do its job. People aren’t mind readers which is why information needs to be shared when it’s about your job. This isn’t a privacy issue at all. It’s about doing a proper job.
100%. The entire fiasco has been blown up out of all proportion and conflated with privacy rather than honesty, transparency and responsibility. Oh wait, I’m referring to the monarchy …
It’s about manipulating deceiving and lying to the public and then scolding the public. It’s been so gross it’s making me feel like I need to take a shower every time I even think about it.
My tinfoil tiara theory is that she’s been having cancer treatment for a long time now. It explains why she didn’t travel out of the country with William last fall, why she’s been wearing wigs and other hairpieces, and maybe even why KP has sometimes been positioning William as a hot single dad, which is gross.
Do you think they didn’t operate first? That’s possible, I suppose, even though I have no idea.
I’ve seen a few people theorize this and I don’t think it holds up. If she was having cancer treatments to such an extent that she lost her hair, I don”t think she would have been doing as many public events as she was, especially events like the carol service where she was interacting with the public and a great deal of children (who are notorious germ factories.) I also don’t think they would have been planning trips to Italy etc if she was undergoing chemo.
She’s been wearing hairpieces for many years, not many months.
I just don’t buy that Kate’s (and Will’s) lazy reputation is actually all false and she’s so completely dedicated that she would continue to schedule and attend public events (maskless, as a cancer patient) instead of taking the very valid opportunity to rest at home. Especially when she went unseen for a huge amount of time a few years back and nobody made a peep, so they absolutely could’ve swung that again.
And, even more unbelievably, that would mean that Kate is so utterly selfless that she willingly stopped her team from releasing any and all positive pr on her behalf (which they could’ve easily done without naming her disease), despite the reality that she was named as a racist just a few months ago and could absolutely use the change in narrative.
it just doesn’t add up. not only did Will, KP, and the firm fail to publicly rally around or adulate Kate in the media via the rota, not only did they fail to even just carry on basic comms (or stick to their own messages of staying gone thru Easter, updating if significant, etc.). But literally a few days ago they made Kate – an active cancer patient, according to them – take the fall and apologize for an aggregious manipulation of the international media that would forever mar (if not outright end) the career of any other photographer or journalist. I mean, grief makes you do crazy things but I just don’t think setting up the rake-in-the-grass of an obvious, completely unnecessary frankenphoto and then thrusting the cancer patient forward to step on said rake publicly and repeatedly is caused by grief.
Lainey Gossip produced a good article about this yesterday.
https://www.laineygossip.com/kate-middleton-cancer-diagnosis-and-the-work-of-kensington-palace/77905
KP need to self reflect on their comms strategy and BM on how they deify and demonize instead of accurate and honest and responsible journalism.
That’s an excellent article, Lady Digby.
I agree that KP had terrible messaging, and the BM played a huge part in worsening the discourse.
I also would argue that W played a huge factor in the public’s reactions as well. He wasn’t seen visiting regularly, unlike QCC. He acted as though under the influence a couple of times in public. He threw his wife under the bus with his Mother’s Day photo. He said that he didn’t pull out of the memorial to his godfather due to K’s health. KP disavowed the Carole pap pic in which K (?) looked ill, but allowed the Frankenphoto, the averted-face Commonwealth Day car pic, and that crazy Farm Store video. He attacked Colbert’s Rose rumors, but threw H&M to the wolves again. I still have major questions about his behavior and his part in all this.
I had forgotten about William not visiting. How are we supposed to believe she’s really sick if her husband and kids aren’t visiting. And now that we know how sick she is, that’s really dark.
Also, a lot of the what’s wrong with Kate came from William saying he wasn’t going to be working while she recovered. You need to actually say what is going on for people to accept that.
The article by Lainey and colleague is okay. Lainey gives a good summation, but she’s also carefully tiptoeing around everything to show that her column was not irresponsible, but just naturally reacted to what KP put out, etc. That’s fair. Certainly, Lainey is absolutely correct that the royal firm is still party to villianizing Meghan, and the cruel deflection continues post this announcement by Kate.
OTOH, Lainey indicating that KP and Kate did such a wonderful job with this announcement, needs to be taken ìn context, with a grain of salt! The bar was in hell for both Kate & KP. View it in that light. And btw, with the bench and the nature backdrop used, who is Kate copying? As we know, Meghan not only caused Harry to “up his game.” The entire royal family learned so much about how to do royal service from Meghan!!! Come on, now. Their jealousy is at the root of so much of the dismissive hate against Meghan.
Yes, an interesting point is how the BM are using H&M to keep the Kate story alive and clicking.
Slate ran a good article about the whole strategy now of shaming the public for causing Kate pain. Since I don’t have a link, here is the abridged version: when you train, condition, even indoctrinate the public to look at someone and then that person disappears from the face of the earth with no rational, adequate explanation, the public is not to blame for speculating and theorizing about what could have happened.
I would only add that monarchists are forever trying to have it both ways. On the one hand, they tell us that these are special humans, ordained by God as better than the rest of us, and, therefore, worthy of all sorts of special privileges and entitlements. But when something happens to these “special” humans, like illness, then we are all expected to recognize and honor their humanity by giving them space, privacy, and not speaking of them except in hushed, reverential tones. And also to swallow whatever line of bs the palaces are dishing out. It’s the very definition of having it both ways: super human and special when convenient for them and regular human beings worthy of compassion and empathy when caught in lies and cover ups.
Brilliant post. I think I may have posted this elsewhere. The royals want it all. They want all the unique perks, privilege and deference of being royal. But they also want the crumbs as to what ordinary folk have too, which is insignificant in terms of financial security for life.
In conclusion, monarchy, not a confused and concerned public, is the problem.
BP did not provide cover for KP and W.
I think that in their own way they did try to respect K’s wishes. The reason why I think this is that their sources such as Jobbo, most recently Piers Morgan) were almost voices on n the desert saying that K had something awful. Those weren’t KP sources. BP was trying to get her breathing space whereas it seemed as though KP was trying to portray her as healthy.
The British press was providing cover. The royal reporters are used as sources and news spreaders to the world’s press for the royals. Piers Morgan is clinging desperately for relevancy after his show got cancelled and is trying to pretend he is prescient.
Major US dailies like the New York Times and the Washington Post acted like a tabloid and printed many articles about Kate’s absence through all of this. They were caught up in promoting and hyping the news about Kate, while also hypocritically bashing the public for daring to invade her “privacy” by discussing Kate’s whereabouts. If NYT and WP want to keep their serious news reputation, they need to lay off Rupert Murdoch’s modus operandi and stick with what they do best and not go for click bait journalism.
This is what the public will not forget. NO ONE likes getting played.
I believe that the BM were asked to ignore K. I also think that KP kept a tight lid on leaks—Concha Calleja’s coma report may in retrospect been a Colleen Rooney trust check. Piers Morgan is a piece of human filth—he’s blathering on about privacy and such, but he doesn’t believe in H&M’s. Eff him. However, he is in close contact with certain members of the RF, most notably QCC. BP sources (Bouwer, Jobbo, Piss, and I believe Wootton—I could have one wrong) had different reporting than the rest of the BM. All of those men are absolutely horrible. But they all mentioned that K was not doing well and laid off to a certain extent. All the Murdoch publications East and West of the Atlantic Ocean portrayed healthy Kate, for instance.
I can see why you see it that way.
The royals with their propaganda machine, the rota, are known for obfuscation and misdirection. The two can give the Russians, who are master at this, a lesson. But the British media has been doing this for some time now. Brexit and keeping the Tory in power for so long didn’t happen overnight. BBC has its reputation and budget cut by the Tories.
But remember the UK press was quite grim reporting about her surgery and the long recovery period. When she wasn’t seen and with William’s odd and conflicting behaviors, the public became concerned. The press got in on this with many conflicting articles, the weird photos, and video. There was nothing to indicate a clear message that Kate was ok. Nothing from KP or William.The doctored photo made it worse.
@ML – nothing Kate disclosed actually rules out Concha being right about an induced coma. I’m not terribly interested in figuring that out now, but it’s worth saying.
How W&K and the BRF handle this matter will be telling.
If the royals chose to play victims and have the royal press continually beating on people and calling them a bunch of conspiracy loons for taking an interest, then this will backfire. Perhaps some of the world may have heard of Charles’ cancer and wished him well. But you can bet, the majority of the world have taken note of Kate’s condition and all the craziness which led up to it.
In the Anglophile world, it doesn’t take much for people to remember how the Sun and other tabloids have lied and broke laws by violating people’s privacy. They did it to famous and in the case of non famous people who were victims of ghastly crime. In these cases, these people were double victimized. The UK press that got so indignant about the evil of social media and gossip mongering are the same culprits that set the public up to take notice.
K&W have to use their advantage carefully. Milk it too hard and often and people will notice and become inured. Not being seen is something neither can tolerate for long. They will be seen publicly. It will be carefully staged and the world’s press notified for the come back appearance. It’ll be another BRF spectacle.
She seemed resentful to give this speech, it was very self-centred and screamed, “leave us alone for the rest of the year”, including William, who has no reason to be at home permanently. They have around 50 staff members, plus Kate has her retired and youngish parents. How many other spouses of cancer patients can just leave work for months at a time?
Her speech lacked humility and self-awareness because it was a lost opportunity as to failing to mention how privileged she is compared to most cancer patients. It was clever as to positing herself on the same level as everyone else. But it is false in fact. She enjoys access to top brass treatment faster than anyone and doesn’t have to worry about paying the bills. All she has to do is concentrate on getting well. If only others had it so easy. Perhaps she will address that later, but I doubt it.
It doesn’t surprise me that the royal spin is off the charts. The standards are so low and excuses so high for them. It is maddening though that when ordinary folk attempt a scintilla of what they do, all they get is scorn. This lot get more privileges and praise. It’s not just in the Commonwealth realms, but in the entire Western media.
KP arrogantly chose the wrong way to handle this sad situation. And the BM scolding everyone is over the top. The BM may be used to KP’s arrogance, but the rest of the world is not, so spare us the guilt trips & lectures.
Above all, wishing Kate health and healing can and should be kept separate from outright lies KP has repeatedly told the public.
So I’m supposed to believe that as of November, Charles and Kate had been publicly named in the international media as the “royal racists” and then completely coincidentally not two months later both of them went in for surgeries and both were later found to have cancer, and yet at no point did they decide to announce anything even tangentially related to Kate’s illness as part of the easiest, best pr they could have ever imagined?
Instead, KP decided to grind the embiggening machine to a complete halt and say absolutely nothing as Will (who had already said he would be out through Easter with his wife) decided to show up drunk to an investiture, made a highly political statement about Israel/Gaza as part of his halfhearted 1-week long try at being a global statesman, gaffed his way through the Baftas, and publicly went back and forth in the media re: whether or not he was going to attend a slew of events. Then, they decided to release an insanely, unnecessarily edited photo that resulted in an international k*ll order that Kate then had to release an official apology for – in the midst of her cancer treatment?? – and again at no point did they decide that coming clean would be the easiest way to allay all the rumors and pressure and again, completely turn around their disastrous pr with little to no actual work?
And then they release a video of Kate alone, so she still has not been credibly seen anywhere near her husband or children (who haven’t been seen since Christmas), and now people online are comparing the video with another video she recorded 7 years ago in which she’s wearing the same top and hairstyle in the same garden-bright setting?
I’m sorry, since January they have played game after game after game. None of this adds up, and they’ve done nothing to earn my trust.
The monarchy and tabloids played too many deceptive tricks. I don’t believe them at all.
Agree, Sunday. The cancer diagnoses (as terrible as they are) will now be used to whitewash the two Royal racists and KP after their PR fiascos, which include gaslighting the public with that Mother’s Day collage and being compared to North Korea and Iran. I bet the major photo agencies will now cancel any review of KP’s past photos out of respect and privacy for this latest diagnosis. Any legitimate criticism or scrunity about them will now be couched as “piling on” or “attacking” these two people suffering from cancer.
I agree with this. It’s all weird and a bit unbelievable. Everything about it. She did that video in front a green screen, so it might be that she’s so sick she can’t even go outside. Who knows. There is nothing that family says that I believe anymore. I hope for her children’s sake, Kate recovers completely. Just all very weird.
Sunday, I agree. I wouldn’t wish cancer on anyone (I’ve had two family members die of cancer), but this whole fiasco was caused by the brf and the comms teams.
I am trying to reconcile the speeches she has done in the past with her new video. I’m sorry but something doesn’t track. How is it that she can suddenly do a speech of this duration without looking down, or pause between phrases or sentences?
I don’t feel guilt or shame for what has come before–that’s on them. The fact is the things KP did when sm heated up only fueled the fire. Was that their intent? I have to wonder.
She practiced the speech and she had a teleprompter. I’ve been filmed and used a teleprompter and it looks like I’m speaking naturally.
It can be noticeable when there are pauses. I think her pauses were a little awkward so probably a teleprompter.
I’m sure someone here has more experience than I do and can be more definitive about use of a teleprompter.
She definitely had a teleprompter. It mirrors text so you look right at camera and learn to “read” without moving your eyes.
What did Kate allegedly say or do in this alleged racist episode? I’ve yet to hear anything about that.
The questioning of the color of Archie’s skin, while Meghan was still pregnant. Piss Morgan said the 2 royals who did that were Charles & Kate. Do you read this website often, or no?
I’m still puzzled by the wording and timing of this statement. KP has released the official transcript/statement, it’s on headed paper but with only Kate’s cypher,so not the official office of the P&P of Wales. The wording is so vague “tests found cancer HAD BEEN PRESENT “, does that mean they found some cancerous cells and removed them? “ Advised I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy “ . NOT I am undergoing…….
My best friend recently had a breast cancer diagnosis- the lump was found really early during a routine mammogram and removed, no further cancer was found to be present. She was advised to have either chemotherapy or a radiotherapy infusion. She chose to have the infusion and has now had the 12 month all-clear. You would never have known anything was wrong, she has an extremely busy stressful schedule as a Justice of the Peace and respite foster carer and managed to carry on as normal .
I also don’t buy that they needed the time to tell the kids- they had a 1/2 term break in February for 2 weeks, why didn’t they tell them then and put out this statement, then we wouldn’t have needed the clown show of the fake photos and videos.
I think, they really thought, they wouldn’t have to reveal Kate’s real condition. Maybe, they were trying to be like QE2. I wonder if someone successfully got info from the hospital and the latest articles were them warning KP that they know. So, they had to announce it.
Timeline should be:
She goes to OR for ‘scheduled surgery’ (aks rushed after heavy symptoms) and besides primary reason something is succesfully extracted. Clean borders, etc.
Preliminary testing no cancer or inconclusive.
Major surgery post-op complications. Early Febr something really bad did happen.
End of february yes to cancer (possibly not for the first time). She’s still in coma or just too weak/ functionally limited to undergo cancer treatment but for some light medication.
She comes out of the woods after a couple of weeks. While she’s in whatever depleted condition both physically and emotionally, she’s informed ppl is asking for proof of life.
She’s like *No way I can sit and put a good face for some camera: I look like sh-t, I might die from any of two illnesses, I have three little children, my FIL the King might die too, and my husband is behaving like a mad man. I’m not the actual heir, KP pls take care*.
KP tries to creat reassurance without her engagagement. Instead they mess up with grainy pap pic, elusive car pic, doctored Mothers Day pic, weird video. To the point where after a few days ppl think she’s either lazy, uncognitive, a fly away, kidnapped, assassinated, a beaten wife, a wronged wife, or the lover of his husband’s friend who just died by suicide. Not recovering.
In the meantime, Kate keeps ‘progressing’ and gets to feels well enough to come clean to her children, take the blame for frankenphoto and realize she should do more than smile and wave.
Pretty much that’s around what should have happened.
In my opinion, she’s still not as well as she wants us to think she is. Everything she’s saying is carefully curated for the sake of her children and to minimize speculation. Her body language is really enlightning. But her presentation was excellent. While the wording could have been better , she’s actually engaging and able to convey many emotions on a very dignified way.
OK, from my memory, the BP comments of mishandling this situation started to come the last weeks. First they were silent, then I remember Charles saying to them, to tell the truth. I think it was during the memorial when the headlines started to come. People are saying, the fake photo was the instigator for all the PR mess, but it was actually when Will didn’t go to his godfather memorial. All the international media announced it as “breaking news” and it got trending on reddit for hours. So, I think, the media knew there was more to it and when they got something on Will, they tried to force his hand. The incompetent KP team then said: the personal issue isn’t related to Kate and the royal family member death, just announced. After that, it was the conspiracies hour online. To protect the heir, KP had to create a recent mother day’s photo, which of course they announced as “Will took the photo”.
In every step, they chose to lie instead of “never explain, never complain” motto they always remind us of. Now, the media is reporting Will didn’t go to the memorial because of Kate, so this was another lie. After all these, I hope Kate is gonna be okay and be with her children for a long time, but who is gonna ever believe the statements coming from KP and the future King & Queen’s office? Everyone is gonna ask, what if they are lying again to protect their family for some other reason.
I still believe a lot of the weirdness is KP panicking over how to handle Will and Kate being separated and living apart, now she has/had cancer. Because that could easily spin into a narrative that cruel Will dumped his cancer stricken wife.
I think now we know it’s cancer, the squirrely behavior was to try and downplay Kate’s medical situation. This jives with your theory.
I wrote a few days ago that it seemed like there were two camps in KP, one trying to pose her as healthy and the other not. So ITA.
I think it’s possible William did not know. If they are truly separated then I think she may have kept the diagnosis from him as a bargaining chip and told him when she started chemo. …going to BAFTAS, doing shots with actors while your wife is in chemo is a really bad look.
She stated that she need time to heal before starting the round of chemo. So it jives with her springing it on him the day of the memorial…oh BTW I’m starting chemo today.
Yes, I remember all the nice things he had to say to Meghan about her abuse and torture by palace staff and his friends in the British media. Snark!
Racist King, is proud of his racist daughter-in-law. Surprised.
The two royal Piers said were the racists have cancer….
Ahhh look, the good ship H. M. S Hypocrisy has set sail! The crew are all on board, royal “experts” and British rags are Manning the voage for them!!!
OK, this is REALLY making me SO anger.
I was rushed into hospital after a massive bleed. Hooked up to drips, scans done and surgery to combat the bleeding. 3 days later they came and said biopsy was taken, sent to the lab and abnormalities were found. They took me back down that day and under a week, yes A WEEK later my cancer was confirmed. The time line on this DOES NOT TRACK! she has had plenty of time to tell and explain it to the children (including the one she’s married to). I’m sick of them thinking they can lie with impunity. They told us Philip was going in for test on an existing condition and, THEY LIED, they told us the Queen had mobility issues, THEY LIED. Yeah Charlie is so close to catherine’s he let them throw her under the bus over the photo. No mention of willy’s wanderings, especially while Kate was in hospital. The only thing they admitted was what I told everyone weeks ago, that the kids were not in school. If they are so fking bothered about press intrusion, start telling the fking truth. And I will tell you all now, Billy and bone are going to milk this, I will make (if I’m still here) £100 donation to dementia research in my husbands name, if they DONT announce a trip to the US later on. They are already useing it against Megan and Harry. I hate to think of anyone suffering, but all I can think at the moment, is FK the lot of them.
ITA!
Second that ladies. I am struggling believing this
Hear, hear to your righteous wrath, Mary Pester!
Liz also after the Morton book the royal family had a photo o p where they welcomed Andrew and Camilla Parker Bowles to the royal enclosure at a race track. Openly discounting c and c relationship even though the royal s knew all about it.
Good point, Mary Pester! The BRF previously lied about two of their most senior members NOT having cancer. It begs the question would they go in the other direction and lie about one of them having cancer? I believe Charles definitely has cancer, though I question Kate given everything that has happened.
They are very duplicitous. I remember years ago Charles’s cronies going on tv to denounce Diana as paranoid and mad. For suggesting he and Camilla were having an affair.
They’re not above lying or spinning any narrative to put themselves in a more favourable light.
And good luck to all the posters on here who have also shared their experience with cancer. 🙏
Wonderful post mary pester
It is. And you’re right Tessa about the way they gaslighted Diana. It was awful.
INHO they are slapping some hasty duct tape over a gaping chasm.
Can we talk about the thing I found most interesting about the video? It proves Kate is capable of giving great speeches if she wants. The difference between this video and every other public speaking she has ever done is…. dramatic. Like night and day.
She spoke well, but the statement had many deficits.
Oh yes the statement wasn’t the greatest but the delivery was light-years better than normal … all while ill!! As someone said in the other thread, this proves she’s a will not, not a cannot. She can do good speaking when she cares to.
Around 2 years ago, I viewed some video footage when she and William were at a football match, might have been rugby. George was with them. Kate either forgot, didn’t know or care that the camera was on her and they were having yet another “moment” of arguing. She sounded completely different. The affected, little girl shrill voice was gone, in its place was that of a mature, assertive woman, quite deep.
I’ve read that others have talked about how the real Kate is very ambitious, confident and steely behind the scenes. Perhaps that was true after all, although I think she lacks confidence in public because she’s never worked or been independent. But behind the scenes, she probably believes her own hype. I don’t think she’s a victim at all. I think she’s very cunning and calculating, like her mother.
This is why I think the speech is true! She was believable for once.
I believe she was using a teleprompter. I’ve done it and you are just reading. After a few practice runs you are good to go.
But teleprompters are for when you are being filmed giving a speech. When I’ve used them i haven’t had an audience. So in most of Kate’s speeches a teleprompter wouldn’t work.
BBC filmed and edited the video so they could easily have removed a few seconds of pauses or gaps to make it sounds smoother. It wasn’t live.
They bungled this badly. My suspicion was that Charles has felt upstaged and releged to a supporting character role by lovely young women his whole life. I believe that Kate and Will were told to keep this on the low down to keep the focus on him, right up until Camilla had a boozy lunch with Piers and said some things she shouldn’t have. Now of course Charles has to play the proud poppa role, just like he played the heartbroken grandpa role after he banished Archie out of the kingdom.
So both of the Royal Racists have cancer.
Couldn’t have happened to nicer people..
Hot dogs Holler Kit..stop projecting
Interesting coincidence huh? I just am struggling to believe this in light of everything that has happened.
I@debbye, me too!.
I’m just thinking of all of the photos of Camilla grinning like the happiest person in the world and wondering what did she know and when did she know it?!
Uggh — so now she get to be queen plus her world will be simplified?
I would be willing to bet she popped into Kate recovery room with a bouquet from time to time to be nosy, so I bet she was one of the first to know. I am also willing to bet that Wills blew up over this, and that’s why Camilla took a vacation until things calmed down between him and Charles.
I still think the surgery was related to Crohn’s disease. She has the definitely Crohns eyes and I think the cancer was discovered in the histology samples.
Possibly ulcerative colitis.
Where is William? Why was he not at her side to show a united front for the British subjects, as well as for the children?
What possible excuse is there this time — was he behind the camera again?
Kate is a grown woman who can handle herself.
Firstly, I want to thank everyone for the kind words expressed to me in regard to my husband’s cancer fight.
I have to say that one thing we’ve learned is that it’s actually a very slow process to get definitive diagnosis of cancer, (in some cases), and the pictures painted to us by different specialists varied widely over a two month period.
It took us about two months to have two separate cancers in two different organs systems fully confirmed and while the main stage 4 cancer was confirmed at Christmas time, it was not until last week that a treatment plan was able to be finalized and started! Meanwhile, we went through a rollercoaster of different pronouncements from the many and varied specialists involved. We are also on our second oncologist. The first one was good; the second one is on a different level, in a good way.
So, I can understand a bit how KP had a problem delivering accurate and timely information on Kate’s status. Especially if Kate had problems involving more than one organ system, like digestive and reproductive, for example. And that’s assuming the minions were being kept informed. But we know they weren’t.
Is that on William? I guess I would be as liable to blame him as much as I blame myself for inadvertently misinforming friends and family at different stages of this wretched journey.
I could go into great detail and explain the pictures I was painted during each step of the journey, so you could understand why our feelings soared and dropped when they did. But we don’t have all day and this isn’t a site for gossip about my family.
Okay moving along to these Royals, everyone please heed Catnip’s post reminding us how much power these people wield. It’s a point I made in the past.
As much as I have empathy and compassion for Kate and Charles in their cancer battles, there is some ugly dirty stuff bubbling around in the royal cauldron. This is not a cohesive picture we see, because there is so much much that individual members of this family are up to in any given week that they don’t want the public to know about. From bags of cash, to questionable endorsements, to mistresses to oligarchs to sex trafficking, this family is the very picture of absolute power corrupting absolutely.
So, if the media machinery is telling us to look away, that’s when we should watch every damn thing they do. These are people who would use even the death of a family member as cover for something else they’re hiding.
This is not a family. It’s a firm. They never let Harry and Meghan forget it. And we shouldn’t, either.
Excellent points SK
Very informative post — with great reminders, @Schrodinger’s Kate.
Schrodinger’s Kate, you make a very good point. I think KFC is seriously ill. I keep wondering if he will survive the treatments. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was part of it. I think Billy Idle has a side piece that he’s probably made clear that she’s going to stick around and he doesn’t want anyone getting in his way.
We know that the Epstien papers will be coming out soon in Florida. I wonder if there is one or two more in the brf who will be named?
I would think the RF have the best medical care on the planet. I guess I could be wrong, but they sure do live long. I don’t think a DX could be delayed for the Princess of Wales. It seems like it would be done stat just b/c. Maybe not on the level of the king, but not like any of us normal folks.
The rota plumb new depths, trying to gaslight and shame the public who had the absolute temerity to start asking questions. It is actually getting a bit Orwellian. Talk of ‘grovelling apologizes’ by Blake Lively who made an ‘ill-advised jibe about photoshop before Catherines diagnosis’. The worst however is Owen Jones saying how he is ‘very ashamed to be honest’. For a man who was part of a Labour movement that was smeared and lied about non stop by the media, who when caught out never apologized, to himself back down to said media is frankly disgusting.
KP made a fake photo. People naturally made fun of a fake photo. People shouldn’t be shamed for it. And whew Blake apologized faster then she ever did for her antebellum wedding.
Just a quick reminder that KING Willem-Alexander (!) made fun of the Frankenphoto. No one knew she had cancer, because her husband and KP tried to make her seem healthy and then she was thrown under the bus. The fact that KP wasn’t supposed to be altering photos came into sharp focus: Good! That has nothing to do with K being ill.
All I can say is: No wonder William went on a bender. Plans to divorce Kate have gone up in smoke. He’s stuck with her thanks to the eternal sympathy she’ll milk from the public by using the cancer card.
How do you know that he planned to divorce her?
the signs were there, if you’re paying attention.
One of the most interesting things that I read in Spare was that for all of my criticism in my head of William and Kate for being workshy, it was Charles who didn’t really want them working too much.
That he was a very jealous person who wanted all of the attention on himself, and that he would prevent other people working so that they wouldn’t get attention.
We saw that with his wife, Diana how jealous he was of her
I was wondering whether with him having cancer himself, he hadn’t wanted William and Kate to release the information that she also was struggling with the same disease, and some of this mess was created by Charles
I don’t know, but I feel like he is a very crafty person and always wants the good spin on himself
Very good points Marqueemoon. The irony is that Charles who hated being overshadowed by his young wife, is now being overshadowed by the attention his daughter in law gets.
Thanks for the kind words everyone.
Yes by all means we must not forget the Epstein papers, @Saucy&Sassy.
I am actually quite shocked how quickly they have vanished from the public consciousness.
In fact, I was slapped with utter shock to receive a solicitation to donate to my party’s campaign, with the promise of a chance to meet two very well respected party members and…one who had been cited in the Epstein records as having had something of a frequent presence on the Lolita Express. 🤢
It was extremely shocking and I just simply shut down. No, the man has not been convicted of anything, but at the very least he’s a known, confirmed sex pest and should be put on the same shelf with Prince Andrew until everything is fully investigated and justice is served.
The papers were published and it was a huge deal about the names on the list. Particularly the name of the person who apparently is being held up as such a prize to meet that I should part with scant financial resources for the wisp of a chance to meet him.
Sigh. Powerful men get so much of a pass in our world that the Epstein evil is so easily buried as often as crusaders for justice try to keep it in the light of public attention.
Even after this announcement questions still remain. Did Kate really edit the photo? Were they her words? Why was the picture first attributed to William then changed to William/Kensington Palace (Sky UK)? Regarding the farm shop, Has KP been asked to comment on that photo? Why was the UK press pressured to not show the Kate with Carol photo?
Many questions and inaccuracies that I fear will remain unanswered.
Maybe they were just bad decisions made during a stressful time. Perhaps Kate wasn’t planning on telling her children about her cancer diagnosis and maybe she made some bad decisions to quell the stories. I’m speculating. But I think it’s harsh to attribute bad motives in this situation.
^^ Uh, you think it is “harsh to attribute bad motives in this situation.” Hmm… Unfortunately, the British royal family is the epitome of ‘bad motivations,’ coupled with skullduggery and nefarious intrigue. All of which the British monarchy practically invented. Bone up on the thousand-year history of this toxic institution!
First, this is in no way meant to be critical of someone who is dealing with cancer. However, the timing of her announcement is very odd to me. Yes, it is possible it took that long to determine she had cancer, but I think she did the announcement because KP bungled everything. This announcement also deflects from “photogate” (nice of William to throw his ill wife under the bus) and the reason for the original surgery. (I still believe that original surgery was related to her eating disorder and there was a complication.) I do think William must be freaking, not only is the mother of his children ill, but how is he supposed to divorce her now? He is really “stuck” and since Charles might not have long to live, William might have to play “grown up” sooner than he expected.
I think Charles is very sick , his cancer is bad .
I also think he and Harry keep in contact .
I’m sorry that Kate has cancer and I hope she has a full recovery. As her father-in-law, I think it was only right for Charles to say something in support of Kate after her announcement but I can’t help but remember when Meghan said she was suicidal and again when she miscarried, Charles was silent both times. People like to say, “The British media treats Kate and Meghan differently” and they do, but so does Charles.
Chuck is a shit father and shot FIL. He only said something because he could score some PR points. As he grandly offered to bring Meg to the altar because he knew it makes him look so good. He didn’t make a peep when Meg shared suicidal thoughts while pregnant and then miscarriage. Don’t wish cancer on anyone, I hope they both recover but then get the consequences for their behavior – and it seems karma is already in the works.
Charles was always a bad father. Charles praising Kate and ignoring Meghan shows the depths of his bad parenting. This has been going on for years.