After publishing an edited Mother’s Day photo, Kate Middleton came under heavy fire from experts and fans worldwide. News agencies decided not to keep it on their websites, and the Princess of Wales even had to issue a public apology.
At the time, no one understood why she decided to post it, but conspiracy theories grew more extensive and more bizarre by the day. In the end, Kate Middleton revealed she had been given a cancer diagnosis. While she was recovering from her abdominal surgery at the London Clinic in January, fans wanted to know everything about her medical records, despite the princess wanting them to stay private.
One expert claimed it was a sort of bullying towards Kate, and the ‘bullying’ part returned after the Mother’s Day photo as another expert claimed newspapers were bullying Kate. The Princess of Wales and her family members don’t get many days in private, especially not after something controversial has happened. One former royal aide explains that Kate has been ‘cursed’.
The royal family has been through many controversies in recent years. It all began with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leaving the royal family for good, and what followed ruined the Sussexes’ relationship with the royals back in the UK. Through their many interviews and Harry’s book, Spare, they bashed the monarchy and its role in today’s society, as well as revealing how they had been mistreated by several of its members.
Kate Middleton
The relationship between, for example, Prince William and Kate Middleton and Harry and Meghan has been at the bottom of the ocean for years, and it seems that nothing will ever make it better.
However, as Kate underwent her abdominal surgery and King Charles received his cancer diagnosis, the Sussexes tried their best to in some way stay supportive of the ones they had criticized over and over again.
According to the Mirror, Harry and Meghan Markle sent their best wishes to Kate Middleton and King Charles after she was hospitalized.
A source told the Mirror, “The King and the Princess of Wales have received support from Prince Harry and Meghan regarding their health. “The Duke and Duchess contacted both parties in different ways to pass on their concern and best wishes.”
Weeks later, another picture emerged of Meghan’s actions, especially when she learned about Kate’s surgery. According to a Us Weekly source, Meghan contacted the princess, hoping it would be the first step to ending the feud. The same went for when Kate announced she had been diagnosed with cancer.
“Meghan has contacted Kate and Charles,” the source said. “So moves are being made to reconcile.”
Meanwhile, a second source noted that Meghan has been very “supportive” of Harry’s attempts to reconcile with his family. Also, he “wishes the royals — Kate included — the very best.”
Royal expert claims Kate was ‘humiliated’ after Mother’s Day photo scandal
Harry and Meghan have repeatedly spoken about their experience of royal life, and the majority of it has been negative. This has led to much criticism, with the Sussexes being accused of only doing it for money.
As mentioned, Kate Middleton said she was solely responsible for editing the picture of her and her children. Meanwhile, some argue that she is doing it, which seems strange as the palace has many experts in graphic design and communication, and that it is a big question mark over the fact that Kate posted it herself, without anyone looking at it.
But even so, royal reporter Neil Sean argues that even though the palace would have had a different opinion about posting the photo in the first place, Kate Middleton most likely had the final say no matter what. He believes that Kate “was probably in the rush” and most likely didn’t look closer at the details.
“I believe someone else did the Photoshop 100%. And I think that she’s being very gracious in accepting the blame,” Neil Sean told Fox. “I think she is humiliated in some respects but doesn’t really understand what this fuss is about,” he said.
The royal reporter continued, “A lot of those particular agencies have been looking for slip-ups for years, because remember, before they would sell the rights to that picture. Catherine and William have bypassed it by doing their own picture. Now, it could be that they’ll have to revert back, at least for the next couple of pictures, to alleviate any claims of any misdemeanor type stuff. It’s going to be a mess for a while.”
Moreover, Neil Sean claimed that the only reason why the big news agencies such as AP and Getty removed the picture is that they were “trying to bully” Kate into giving them more details about her health status.
“I think Catherine and the team genuinely thought, ‘Put a picture out on Mother’s Day; that will stop people nagging about where she is, why isn’t she speaking, all that sort of stuff.’ And what happened was the picture that they put together, they thought, ‘Well, we’ll just clean that up, make it look a little bit fresher.’ And now suddenly you’ve got a furor,” he concluded at the time.
Royal expert claimed Harry & Meghan was to blame for Kate Middleton chaos
It wasn’t only news agencies that received criticism over how Kate was treated. In fact, Harry and Meghan also became a part of that discussion, as the Sussex’s outspokenness in the past, according to a royal expert, claimed to have been a reason why the frenzy around Kate had grown into somewhat insanity.
According to royal expert Kinsey Schofield, the Sussexes had contributed to fueling speculations surrounding the Princess of Wales, even though they haven’t publicly spoken about her.
Speaking on Sky News, Schofield claimed that Harry and Meghan have “warped” the public’s expectation regarding what the royal family should share.
“I think this is a reflection of Harry and Meghan oversharing for the last four [years],” Schofield told Sky News about the many speculations and conspiracy theories about Kate’s health.
“I mean, for the last four years, we had a book, we had a reality show, we had multiple sit-down interviews. When Meghan Markle had her miscarriage, she announced it through the New York Times, like she wrote an op-ed announcing her miscarriage, and I just think it’s warped our expectations when it comes to… What we expect to hear about the British Royal family.”
The royal expert added, “It feels like Harry and Meghan have made it in a way more okay for us to try to push the envelope and try to ask for more when it comes to the privacy of the real working royals.”
Kate Middleton asked for privacy after cancer announcement
The Mother’s Day picture became huge on social media, and everyone tried guessing what Kate had done with the image and why. Everyone wanted more information about how she was doing and what her illness really was about.
On March 22, the world finally got the answer. Kate MIddleton revealed in a long emotional video that she had been diagnosed with cancer.
“My medical team, therefore, advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy, and I am now in the early stages of that treatment. This, of course, came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family,” Kate said.
“As you can imagine, this has taken time. It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment. But, most importantly, it has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte, and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them and to reassure them that I am going to be okay. As I have said to them, I am well and getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal; in my mind, body, and spirits.”
Moreover, Kate asked the public to give her and the family space, which indeed hasn’t been the case in recent months.
“We hope that you will understand that, as a family, we now need some time, space and privacy while I complete my treatment. My work has always brought me a deep sense of joy and I look forward to being back when I am able. But for now I must focus on making a full recovery.”
The fact that fans worldwide demand to know everything about Kate and the rest of the royal family might not be that surprising, at least not to one who has been working closely with them.
Former royal aide says Kate Middleton was given a ‘curse’
A former longtime palace aid tells People that Kate Middleton’s Mother’s Day photo scandal was just one example of how people in today’s society demand more. In one way, the person claimed, Kate has been ‘cursed.’
“There was no malintent. But it unleashed up a pent-up feeling that people wanted information — unfortunately, that’s the curse of being a modern royal” the former longtime palace aide said. “It was a complex reaction.”
“[The royal family] is vulnerable at the moment, and there will be an even greater appreciation that they are human beings with frailties like the rest of us,” the former palace aide continued. “They are so dedicated to their roles. I think you will find when Kate makes a full recovery, she will come back even more passionate.”
