Time to lay off Kate

 

OK everyone, you've had your fun. Time to move along. If only it were that simple. But the past few days have shown a side of royal life that few would covet. The Princess of Wales has been the subject of a social media pile on that's turned into  a global controversy that makes little sense. And just when you think the craziness is finished, it ramps up again to something even more ludicrous than before. And through it all, the actual human being at its centre seems to be forgotten. It's time to lay off Kate.

The Princess of Wales has been at the heart of some of the most hideous social media chatter seen in recent times since she committed the heinous crime of needing a major operation. In January 2024, Kensington Palace announced HRH had undergone abdominal surgery and would need two weeks in hospital before a recuperation period at home expected to last at least two months. If they hoped that would give Kate the chance to get over something pretty tough in private, they were wrong. Almost immediately, the decision not to elaborate on the surgery led to speculation. Soon after, the fact that the hospital she was at managed to get visitors in through an entrance away from press led to claims no one had come to see her. Before the press release revealing she had gone home was shared, conspiracists had come up with some truly shocking speculation online. The worst was yet to come.

As the Princess followed doctor's orders, some of those watching on got bored. Kate won't be back before Easter, KP said. That's March 31st in 2024. Yet by middle of February, there were ever louder demands of ''where is Kate''. The answer, at home resting, was rejected by the shouters as just plain wrong. They then shared ideas that were beyond horrible. If you met someone spouting that claptrap in a pub, you'd walk away and tell the owner to get busy with security. But because it's written on social media, it somehow becomes real. Before long, some mainstream journalists were running with it too, in a vague, just asking kind of way.

Kensington Palace then decided to share a photo of Kate on Mother's Day. Within moments, the same social sleuths, not satisfied with proof of life, were poring over the photo for edits. In 2024, it would be a surprise if a public figure hadn't enhanced a photo. They soon got their proof. The surprise was that photo agencies then decided to pull the image because of possible manipulation. It became worldwide story.

There is a debate to be had about social media and royalty but it's wider than one photo. The main issue in the argument around this picture of Kate seems to be that those who had peddled conspiracy were angered that she appeared not to have done any of the things they claimed, which ranged from leaving her husband to not actually being alive any more. All the claims were filled with melodrama and followed wellworn lines of fainting Victorian victim. The truth of Kate not being well but getting better slowly was far too dull to satisfy. Sadly, it also appears that a photo taken and edited in the same way as millions of family pics around the world wasn't either.

The hypocrites have queued up to say that this is Kate's fault. She herself apologised for any confusion her editing had caused but that wasn't what they were after. Basically, she had refused to make her illness public property. The first photo after hospital was a money spinner and she got her husband to take it. No one made a dime. And, worse of all for the conspiracists, she hadn't been abducted by aliens, gone through a portal to Tudor times or retreated to a dustbin to eat scraps rather than stay on the royal hamster wheel. She had failed to live down to all their expectations and their venom has only increased since.

But now, it's time to move on. The line between inquiry and bullying has been crossed. This is now a pile on of an ill woman who has done nothing more than tweak a family photo. She doesn't deserve the nastiness being directed at her or the intense scrutiny that is bringing with it. She just needs a bit more time to get better.