It’s been six weeks since the press staff of the Prince of Wales issued a surprising statement: It said that Kate had successfully undergone abdominal surgery, would now stay in the hospital for a while and then undergo a longer recovery phase until Easter will withdraw from the public. She would then resume her representative duties in early April. It was further made clear that the Prince of Wales and his staff would not be releasing regular updates on Kate’s convalescence.
And Kensington Palace has stuck to this to this day. Even when the princess left the hospital, it was unnoticed and unphotographed through a back exit of the “London Hospital”. Much to the displeasure of the British and international media, which could achieve high circulation and reach with every piece of news or pictures of the princess. A recent column in the Daily Mail newspaper provocatively said that the heir to the throne should stop rambling about Gaza and other political issues. Instead, they really expect news from him about Kate’s condition.
Other leading British media have also been calling for Kate to finally speak out for some time, for example in one of the popular videos on the Instagram channel @The Prince and Princess of Wales, which the Wales couple has been using since the coronation last year In May, people can be used intensively with professional reels for their charitable activities. She should publicly thank her in words and pictures for the many well-wishes that the palace has received for her – just as her father-in-law Charles did last week.
But these appeals to the royal family have so far had no effect. It was heard from those close to William that he had no plans to give in to public pressure and reveal details about his wife’s health. This strange mixture of modern brand communication with extensive use of social networks on the one hand and persistence in the old palace policy of “never complain, never explain” on the other is proving increasingly difficult to convey.
This is particularly noticeable on social media: the less current news about Kate becomes known, the more rumors sprout on the Internet, even including absurd conspiracy theories.
There is speculation on both domestic and foreign websites that the Princess is not staying at home in Adelaide Cottage with her family, but is secretly undergoing full-body cosmetic surgery. A nervous breakdown because of an allegedly impending divorce from William is also a popular explanation for her withdrawal. One of the most bizarre speculations circulating on social media is the theory that the princess is actually graffiti artist Banksy. On X (formerly Twitter) one user wrote: “Not a single Banksy left since Kate Middleton disappeared.”
Of course, as members of her team at the palace never tire of emphasizing in response to press inquiries, none of this corresponds to the facts. But the lack of news and photos has resulted in excessive interest from hardcore royal fans reaching unprecedented levels. In 2024, it will obviously no longer be enough to have press spokesmen give taciturn assurances at regular intervals that “the Princess of Wales’s recovery is continuing to progress well” and that everything else can be found in the press release from January.
These days, the public is used to being constantly fed news about the popular heir to the throne. Even the renowned British TV broadcaster BBC has now felt compelled to speak of a “royal dilemma” as public curiosity about Kate’s health continues to grow. In a confusing media landscape that is no longer dominated only by professional journalists, but also by private, often self-proclaimed experts, the media spin on the topic of “Kate’s illness” threatens to get out of Kensington Palace’s control.
As far as we know, much of the disinformation about the heir to the throne comes from bots and trolls, but there are now also countless social media accounts that belong to obsessive royal fan communities. Some of the most absurd rumors about Kate can probably be attributed to concerted actions by the “Sussex Squad”, the militant following of the renegade ducal couple in California, which is particularly active on X.
But traditional media in other countries also contribute to the strange hype. A detailed report in a popular Spanish news program that the princess was in a coma is still being widely discussed, although it was immediately denied by palace officials.
Palace circles are now secretly saying that part of the problem lies in the different ways in which the two teams communicate about their royals who have become ill: Kensington Palace speaks (or is currently mostly silent) for the Princely Couple of Wales, Buckingham Palace for the Royal Couple .
“The public simply doesn’t know what to expect anymore,” said an anonymous source close to the palace in the British daily newspaper “The Telegraph.” “One day people out there find out everything about the king’s prostate treatment, including the subsequent cancer diagnosis, the next day they don’t even know why William so suddenly canceled his participation in the memorial service for his godfather. Neither approach is necessarily right or wrong, but the public is confused that the royal family does not behave in a reliably consistent manner on the outside,” said the source.
Elsewhere it was said that there was nothing to hide about Kate’s condition, that it was just a matter of principle for William not to throw information down the throats of the sensation-hungry media. He simply wanted to protect his family’s privacy.
Buckingham Palace, on the other hand, has successfully shown itself to be unusually open and generous with medical updates in recent weeks. Certainly also in the knowledge that there is rightly a public interest in details about the head of state’s health.
After it was confirmed that the king was suffering from symptoms of an enlarged prostate, he was seen being admitted to the hospital with Queen Camilla at his side and emerging a few days later. Since it was announced that he had cancer, he has been seen regularly, including several times attending church on Sundays near his country residence at Sandringham and smiling and waving to the public as he drove past from his limousine in London.
Unusually, a short film was even released that showed the beginning of a current audience with Prime Minister Sunak. And the press team posted friendly photos of the king on social media, showing him moving through his numerous get-well cards.
The impression conveyed is that of a monarch who wants to be seen in order to prove to the public that the affairs of state continue to run smoothly under his leadership and that the monarchy is not in danger. Here too, there are always voices demanding to know what type of cancer the king is suffering from. But the level of public discourse about it is not remotely comparable to that surrounding his daughter-in-law’s well-being.
When this phase in the Windsors’ lives is over and the King and Kate are back on their feet, the members of the family company will hopefully soon agree on a common, modern communication strategy based on Elizabeth II’s favorite motto of “Never complain, never explain”. , which fits into the 21st century – somewhere between complete blocking and a transparency that completely disregards privacy.
