‘View’ hosts say they regret indulging in Princess Kate speculation
The women of “The View” started their week with a public mea culpa for indulging in the frenzied speculation about Britain’s Catherine, Princess of Wales, ahead of her sobering cancer disclosure.
Panelists Alyssa Farah Griffin, Sara Haines, Ana Navarro and Sunny Hostin sheepishly shared their apologies around the show’s Hot Topics table. They said they regretted not listening to moderator Whoopi Goldberg last week when she discouraged them from playfully dissecting Kate Middleton sightings and conspiracy theories that were swirling around the “disappearing princess,” especially in the wake of Kensington Palace’s photo-editing fumble.
Goldberg had insisted previously that they refrain from theorizing, saying that the British royal family deserved privacy. The women’s apologies came in the ABC series’ first episode since the princess’ disclosure that she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy to treat cancer that was found after she had abdominal surgery in January. The revelation quelled months of wild conjecture relating to the senior royal and drew well wishes from around the globe, as well as countless regrets from those who had misread the situation.
“I’m guilty of having gotten into the fun of ‘Where’s Kate?’ and thinking it’s funny and sharing the memes . ... ,” Griffin said. “I forgot something fundamental that we all know, which is every person — whether they’re a princess, somebody at a high-privileged position or just the person next to you — is dealing with personal struggles that we don’t know about.”
Griffin, who said she feels awful about the “casual meanness” that accompanied the discourse, also said she believes Kensington Palace “totally mishandled the PR of this, but the public mishandled it” too.