A two-minute video posted on social networks dispelled the mystery. Sitting in a garden, Kate Middleton, with drawn features and a distressed look, announced on Friday March 22 that she had cancer, without specifying its nature, and had started chemotherapy, evoking a “huge shock”.
For several weeks, rumors had been multiplying after an operation undergone by the very popular Princess of Wales in January. The very discreet communication from the British Crown and a retouched official family photo had fueled the wildest speculations. Franceinfo looks back at recent months where the British monarchy’s communication has faltered.
A surgical operation announced by a cryptic press release
On January 17, a brief statement from Kensington Palace informed that “The Princess of Wales was admitted to the London Clinic [la veille] for a planned surgical operation of the abdomen”. The Palace does not specify the reason for this intervention and relays the “wish” of the princess “that their personal medical information remains private”. But the duration of hospitalization, “10 to 14 days”raises many questions about the seriousness of his condition, especially as the Palace warns that convalescence will last at least two and a half months.
Faced with numerous questions, and while King Charles III was hospitalized at the same time, Kensington Palace finally relayed the information to British royal correspondents that the Princess of Wales’ operation was not linked to cancer. .
Two weeks later, it was by a even more succinct message that the institution announces in four sentences that the Princess of Wales has been released from hospital and “returned to her home in Windsor”west of London, and that it “making good progress”, without specifying when this discreet return took place.
Cancellations in the princely agenda fuel questions
A month after Kate Middleton’s release from hospital, her husband Prince William canceled his presence at the last minute at a ceremony in memory of his godfather, King Constantine of Greece, at Windsor Castle, to “personal reason”.
This episode reignites rumors and concerns about the state of health of Kate Middleton, who has not been seen in public since Christmas, even though she is usually one of the most photographed women on the planet. Faced with media excitement, Kensington Palace confines itself to ensuring that the princess “continues to do well” in a statement sent to the media.
Then, on March 5, the British army website announced that the princess would participate in the official ceremonies for the birthday of King Charles III at the beginning of June. But Kensington Palace, which manages the princely couple’s agenda, does not confirm this event.
Royal sources indicate that the Palace was not consulted in advance by the Ministry of Defense, and the mention of the presence of Kate Middleton was removed from the website in the evening. This very discreet official communication also leaves the field open to the tabloids, which published on March 4 the first photo of the Princess of Wales since her operation.
A retouched photo reignites rumors
On March 10, Mother’s Day in the United Kingdom, Kensington Palace publishes a photo of Kate Middleton surrounded by her three children, all smiling. This is the first official photograph published since his operation two months earlier. Was the Crown hoping to silence rumors about the health of the Princess of Wales? Very quickly, suspicions of fakery led to the unpublication of the family portrait by several press agencies, such as Agence France-Presse or Associated Press.
We had to wait until the next day for Kate Middleton to take responsibility for these alterations. “Like many amateur photographers, I sometimes experiment with editing”, she wrote on the X account (formerly Twitter) of Kensington Palace, signing with her initial C (for Catherine). She apologizes “for the confusion that the family photo we shared yesterday may have caused.”
But this statement does not put an end to questions about Kate Middleton’s health or to rumors related to the absence of a wedding ring on her finger. The original, unretouched photo will not be released, while Prince William is not making any public comments.
In addition, this episode taints confidence in the Palace’s communication. On March 18, a new photo, taken by two royal photographers, showing Kate Middleton in a car alongside Prince William, was suspected of fakery by Internet users as soon as it was published. Eight days after the disastrous publication of this retouched photo, the tabloids The Sun and TMZ reveal new images of the Princess of Wales, who appears in good health, during an outing with William to the Windsor farmers’ market. Once again, crazy theories are being discussed on social networks, such as the existence of a double of the princess.
Many unanswered questions
Had the pressure become too great, prompting the Crown to orchestrate an official communication? Since March 18, the royal family has also had to face countless false information on the death of Charles III. “We couldn’t continue to let rumors and suspicions spread, especially since the episode of the retouched photo was particularly clumsy”judge with franceinfo Philippe Chassaigne, professor of contemporary history at Bordeaux-Montaigne University and specialist in the British monarchy.
It is in this context that Kate Middleton ended up announcing in a video that she was suffering from cancer. Despite this new transparency displayed, this filmed message does not escape the very controlled communication strategy of British crowned heads. Kate Middleton divulges few details about her health, revealing neither the nature of her cancer, like her father-in-law King Charles III, nor the precise schedule of her medical treatment.
A speech consistent with the royal family’s desire for discretion. “We now need time and respect for our space and privacy while I finish my treatment”she repeated in her filmed message.
Will British subjects forgive the Crown for its poor communication? “The monarchy is very popular with the population, there may be a feeling of sympathy which will work in their favor”, believes Philippe Chassaigne. In any case, they will have to wait a little longer before seeing the Princess of Wales in public again. According to a Kensington Palace spokesperson, she will return to her official duties “as soon as his medical team authorizes him to do so”. And according to the British agency PA, neither she, nor her husband, nor their children will attend the traditional Easter mass with the royal family.