What’s the TRUTH?
The Princess of Wales has spent 20 years in the spotlight without a hint of controversy… until now
Until recently, the royal family had never had a Kate problem. The wife of the next King – and the mother of the one to follow – has grown in confidence, grace and popularity over two decades.
But, in the three months since the announcement that she was undergoing ‘planned abdominal surgery’, the speculation around the mother-of-three has grown to a frenzied crescendo, characterised by conspiracy theories, round-the-clock gossip and a PR disaster, apparently of the princess’ own making.
On the face of it, Kate has simply been recovering from a surgical procedure and, naturally, has taken time off work. As the Palace has always said, she would be recuperating until at least Easter. But a long confinement does not sit comfortably in our greedy 24-hour news culture, particularly when King Charles himself was so transparent and candid in the face of his own cancer diagnosis.
With the chatter on social media becoming increasingly febrile, and conjecture surrounding the princess’ absence ranging from the ridiculous to the deeply concerned, the Palace clearly decided it was time for some gentle reassurance. Releasing an image of Kate with her children to mark Mother’s Day in the UK seemed like the perfect solution.
Yet, within hours of the happy image being uploaded and used in newspapers, websites and on television, questions were being raised about its authenticity. It seemed strange that Kate wasn’t wearing her wedding ring, but more notable were the multiple photoshopping errors within the image. The photograph that was supposed to allay fears for the princess’ health had backfired terribly. As several reputable news agencies issued disturbingsounding ‘kill’ notices – a rare move that effectively signals they are withdrawing an image due to doubts over its veracity – social media went into overdrive, with the #KateGate hashtag trending.
For a family that lives by the motto ‘never complain, never explain’, the apology came remarkably quickly. It was the princess herself who admitted fault, explaining that, like many amateur photographers, she ‘occasionally experiments with