Look, I didn’t care about Kate Middleton at all until the Associated Press killed that photo.
Now, she has had to go public to acknowledge a cancer diagnosis and about five minutes after she released her long-awaited public statement, people were shaming the media – and themselves – for forcing the issue with her. And given the context and just how inconsequential this story is in the grand scheme of things, it brings me no pleasure to say that the media got it right in this case.
A quick rehash (or just a hash for those of us who really were not that into this to begin with): Catherine, otherwise known as Kate Middleton or the Princess of Wales or the wife of Prince William, who is next in line as king of England, was last seen publicly on Christmas. In early January, Kensington Palace1 announced that Kate had had abdominal surgery and that things were going well. She was also under doctor’s orders to stay at home until after Easter. OK. At the same time King Charles (I am old enough to remember Princess Diana and just typing that has me, like, aghast, for real) announces that he is being treated for an enlarged prostate, which is a fairly common condition. Later in January, Charles had surgery and the two of them returned home at the same time. A few days later, on Feb. 5, Charles announces that he has cancer and is undergoing treatment. He continued his work and has been seen in public. Meanwhile, Kate’s nowhere to be found and as previously noted, who cares. She did say she was laying low, so. But then on March 10, Kensington Palace drops a photo of Kate with her kids wishing everyone Mother’s Day2 UNSOLICITED, meaning no one asked for it. Once the photo was published, people started to notice that there was something hinky with it, like it had been edited in weird ways. Then the Associated Press and other news agencies issued a kill order on it, noting that it looked manipulated by the source, which was Kensington Palace, which is an arm of the Royal Family, which (for some reason) is a political arm of a country. The next day, Kate took responsibility for the editing. That doesn’t make sense for a ton of reasons, but whatever. The damage was done. Rumors were rampant by the time Kate finally acknowledged on March 22 that she’d been diagnosed with cancer and was doing preventive chemotherapy.
SIDEBAR: It’s not like the AP kills photos all the time. It shouldn’t have to – the photos it publishes should be coming from trusted and vetted sources. The Royal Family’s Insta maybe isn’t that trusted now?
That is a scary diagnosis for anyone, let alone a mother of three small children. Having said that, this whole situation reminds me of people blowing up their entire lives and careers on Twitter by making some stupid statement that no one had asked for. If Kate wanted to keep her condition close to the vest or reveal it when she was ready, the way to do it is to not lie when you don’t need to. She had already said she was staying home on doctor’s orders. Now that approach might have been a bit complicated by the fact that her father-in-law was handling his cancer diagnosis a bit differently. But they did already had a party line, and it was nothing to stick with it.
The idea that they released that photo because of people gossiping almost makes it sound as if British tabloids are actually considered valid news sources. Hi, they are being sued constantly for lying and frequently have to pay up. Hmm, there is a recent case right on the tip of my brain but it escapes me right now. (The history cited in this story is absolutely, straight-up bananas.)
When someone is lying to you, it is normal to wonder why. This is true in real life as well as with people you don’t know or care about. It is normal for the media to ask why someone powerful might be lying – it is actually their job, which some outlets seem to forget at times because they don’t do it consistently. So that’s why it’s weird sometimes when they get it right – like now. When there is nothing consequential on the line.
Cool. Cool.
People are second-guessing themselves because the truth of this matter was a little less scandalous than they had been wanting. Why were we so nosy? they’re asking themselves. Because you were being lied to. It’s OK. When you’re a public figure, especially a political public figure, the public has an expectation to know more about your personal life. Is this fair? I don’t know. I mean, a person’s health is a private thing. It’s private because people make assumptions about people diagnosed with conditions, any conditions. And the instinct is to keep people from treating you like a disease/illness instead of treating you like a person.
Last thing on this: Wow, that chick who was rumored to be having an affair with Prince William must be going through it right now. Pour one out for that woman and her husband. To have your whole life scrutinized because of a PhotoShop situation and then tossed aside when this cancer diagnosis comes out? Whew.
Footnotes
- You learn something new every day. I did not know that Kensington Palace represents the Prince and Princess of Wales while Buckingham Palace handles the King and Queen! Or Queen Console, which, you know what? Don’t even get me started.
- Another new thing I learned: Mother’s Day in England is in March! Another example of things we do that’s better than the original. Imagine me walking around in a jacket on Mother’s Day. As if!