Rumors are piling up online about Princess Kate’s health: she has had a BBL – a so-called Brazilian butt lift -, she is in a coma, she has cut her bangs and wants to grow them out, She ran away with comedian Pete Davidson, she is no longer alive and the entire Royal Family knows about it. Theories surrounding Kate’s absence range from the completely absurd to the sinister and dark.
The number of rumors is now so high that Kensington Palace felt compelled to make a statement, which ultimately only stated what has been known since January: Kate had to undergo planned abdominal surgery and will recover until after Easter and don’t keep any appointments.
These rumors are stressful, but not the Royal Family’s biggest problem. Because the institution is currently losing not only its glamor, but also its reputation due to the absence of its brightest and most important members. After King Charles’ cancer, Kate’s illness and William’s resulting absence, the greatest burden of royal duties falls on the shoulders of Queen Camilla and Princess Anne, who attend a large number of appointments and engagements. Both are over 70 years old.
In total, only four of the eleven working royals are under 70 years of age: Kate, William, Duchess Sophie and Prince Edward. Only they take on appointments and engagements in the name of the king. More than 2,500 a year, distributed among this group of people. Originally there were 14 family members. But Prince Harry and his wife Meghan as well as the disgraced Prince Andrew are no longer there.
In recent years, Charles has repeatedly emphasized that he wants a modern and streamlined monarchy. This is what he gets out of it now. If there is a failure – or, as in this case, several – the institution begins to crumble. Kensington Palace’s communication is now also causing criticism among fans and experts. The fact that Prince William canceled his participation in the funeral service in honor of his late godfather, the former Greek King Constantine II, at short notice led directly to angry opinion articles in the British tabloids. Especially because, according to critics, he gave an inadequate explanation for his absence.
And then there is the public image that the monarchy presented at the said funeral service. In good spirits and with a broad grin on his face, the man who recently caused the biggest scandal in the royal family led the family group on the way to the chapel: Prince Andrew. Andrew, whose friendship with late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein was only resurfaced in January when court documents were made public, is the worst royal representative imaginable. Of course he was at the funeral service as a private person – and yet the pictures went around the world showing him grinning happily at the front of the crowd of royals.
The fact that King Charles is ill and Princess Kate is also a sad stroke of fate for the family. However, for the company – and the royals are part of a company – it is at least as bad. Because the royal family needs more than what it is currently able to offer: it needs glamour, it needs freshness and it has to give the people the feeling that they will still be relevant in the future.
