People Are Reassessing The Royals' PR Strategy Following Kate Middleton's Diagnosis

"Buckingham Palace letting a woman with cancer take the blame for photoshopping a photo of herself is absolutely wild."

After Kate Middleton disclosed that she has cancer, some have questioned how the royal PR team mishandled a case of illness to the point of mass conspiracy.

PR Strategy 1 : Chuck’s got cancer. It is what it is. Don’t expect more details or further updates.

PR Strategy 2: Kate’s having mystery surgery. You won’t see her til April. Here’s a pic with her kids. It’s doctored. She doctored it herself. She’s working on a special project!

— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) March 22, 2024

Twitter: @nycsouthpaw

buckingham palace letting a woman with cancer take the blame for photoshopping a photo of herself is absolutely wild

— alex (@alex_abads) March 22, 2024

Twitter: @alex_abads

So you mean to tell me someone in Kensington Palace decided the best way to protect Kate Middleton’s privacy while she deals with cancer was by creating completely preventable PR disasters and then making her take the blame for them?? Incredible scenes

— naledi🍉 (@naledimashishi) March 22, 2024

Twitter: @naledimashishi

I am begging people to understand *we* are not the reason Kate Middleton had to make that video. The disastrous palace PR team is why she had to make that video.

— Julie S. Lalonde (@JulieSLalonde) March 22, 2024

Twitter: @JulieSLalonde

Especially given that the British taxpayer partially funds the Royal Family's lives, it's worth looking back to see exactly how this mess began — and what steps the Palace did or did not take to curb speculation:

January 17: Kensington Palace issues its first statement.

Kensington Palace / Via Instagram: @undefined

In it, the palace says that Kate "was admitted to hospital yesterday for planned abdominal surgery. The surgery was successful and it is expected that she will remain in hospital for 10 to 14 days, before returning home to continue her recovery." Prince William subsequently postponed some of his planned duties. 

Feb 1: The palace denies that Kate was in "great danger."

Stephen Pond / Getty Images

Spanish journalist Concha Calleja alleged of Kate's surgery, “The decision was to put her in an induced coma. They had to intubate her. There were serious complications that they didn’t expect because the operation went well, but the postoperative period didn’t go so well." The Palace swiftly shut it down, with a source telling the Times, "It’s total nonsense. No attempt was made by that journalist to fact-check anything that she said with anyone in the household. It’s fundamentally, totally made-up, and I’ll use polite English here: it’s absolutely not the case."

Feb 29: Amid growing speculation, Kensington Palace says Kate is "doing well."

Chris Jackson / Getty Images

When Prince William pulled out of a memorial service for his godfather earlier that week for personal reasons, palace sources once again said that Kate was "doing well." A spokesperson for the palace then said, "We were very clear from the outset that the Princess of Wales was out until after Easter and Kensington Palace would only be providing updates when something was significant."

March 4: Kate is seemingly pictured for the first time since having surgery, the first of a few heavily-questioned images.

Max Mumby / Getty Images

Keeping in tone with the other images, it's incredibly grainy, leading some to question whether or not it was Kate in the picture. 

March 10: The now-infamous Mother's Day picture is recalled, given its poor photo editing.

Wpa Pool / Getty Images

Some noted how unprecedented such a recall was, tipping the conspiracy theories into overdrive. 

March 11: Kate issues a statement saying, "Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day."

Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day. C

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) March 11, 2024

Twitter: @KensingtonRoyal

It is arguably doubtful that the photo editing in question was done by anyone other than a professional.

March 18: Video footage emerges of Kate at a farm shop in Windsor.

Getty Images

When BuzzFeed asked Kensington Palace to confirm or deny whether or not Kate was in the Windsor farm shop video, they replied, "Kensington Palace doesn't comment on Their Royal Highnesses private time." However, Royal sources told the New York Post that Kate looked "positive and healthy" and that the video "should hopefully be enough to put an end to the outside noise about her recovery."

March 19: "Friends of the royals" tell the Daily Beast that Kate will make a "big bang" return to public life at Easter.

Chris Jackson / Getty Images

"She is doing well. Everything is on track. Easter will be the big bang moment," one friend said. Kensington Palace did not comment. 

March 21: Kensington Palace says that Kate is working from home.

Samir Hussein / Samir Hussein / WireImage

In a statement to the Telegraph, the palace said that "the Princess has been kept updated throughout the process" of a study done through her Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood. The headline that the Telegraph went with was, "Princess of Wales eases back to work with childcare project." Understandably, some found it a touch jarring when her diagnosis was announced the following day.  

March 22: The palace releases a video of Kate saying she has cancer.

A message from Catherine, The Princess of Wales pic.twitter.com/5LQT1qGarK

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) March 22, 2024

Twitter: @KensingtonRoyal

In it, she said that she was in the "early stages" of preventative chemotherapy.