What if Kate Middleton had a right to privacy about her own health?

X, formerly known as Twitter, has been awash this week with conspiracy theories about Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales. If you haven’t caught up on it, she posted a photo last Sunday, Mother’s Day, of herself and her three children. She said William had taken it.

Kate Middleton hasn’t been seen in weeks because of ‘planned abdominal surgery’ and said this was a recent photo. The BBC and other news outlets accepted this as truth.

But hours later, Associated Press put a ‘kill notice’ on the photo, saying it had been substantially altered. Keyboard warriors on all social media platforms immediately started drawing red rings around the photo, showing discrepancies on Louis’ jumper, on Charlotte’s skirt, and on Kate’s hair and jacket zip.

Kensington Palace is facing a crisis of trust after an ‘edited’ official photograph of Kate Middleton was withdrawn by news agencies

Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse warned against using the image, fearing it had been ‘manipulated’https://t.co/xW6jy70haH

— Metro (@MetroUK) March 11, 2024

Kate released a statement the following day saying that she had edited the photo. The Palace has so far declined to release any of the ‘original’ photos.

Am I willing to believe that the photo is a composite of several taken at the same time, maybe to ensure that all the children were smiling and looking in the same direction? Definitely. Am I willing to believe that it was taken in the autumn? Also yes. Am I willing to say that it’s just not that deep, and that Kate has the luxury of being able to take time off to heal fully from her operation in a way that I wish all of us could access? Absolutely.

I wish good healing for her, and right now, in the middle of this speculation, I hope she’s safe and well and merely tired and in need of rest.

I hope she turns up in a few weeks looking well, doing what she does, and manages to put all the rumours to rest.

Do I think any of the theories – that she is at death’s door, that she is in rehab, that she is suffering from an eating disorder, that she has left Prince William and has taken the children with her, all of which are among the least weird of the hundreds of wild allegations out there – are true? Absolutely not.

Do I also think this is a terrible example of the press intrusion into the lives of anyone that we consider famous? One hundred percent.

Let’s stay with the Royal Family. Before she and William married, Kate’s press was largely about how she was sitting around waiting for him to propose. The press was certain she was positively unable to live any kind of fulfilling life until a man found her acceptable enough to ask her to marry him. She then turned popular opinion around by producing an heir quickly enough (and a male one, to boot!); although who can forget the disgusting scrutiny around her post-partum body?

The press has given her a lot of grace in recent years, but that’s because there was a bigger enemy for them – Meghan. She’s not only a commoner, she’s both foreign and mixed race, both of which are things that the British press dislikes anyway and openly loathes when it comes to the Royal Family. It’s well documented that there are certain things that Meghan got bad press about – touching her baby bump, eating avocadoes – that Kate got good press about. Meghan has also seen more than her fair share of conspiracy theories. There is an entire dark seam of the internet that doesn’t believe that her children are hers, or Harry’s, or that she was ever pregnant at all.

But Meghan has removed herself from the situation so it seems like it’s open season on Kate again.

What impact does this endless scrutiny have on the mental health of these women?

Why are we, the public, obsessed with pitting women against each other? Why are we trying to tear these women down for simply living their lives, for getting married, for having children, and for being famous at the same time? And what impact does this endless scrutiny have on the mental health of these women?

After all, we have already heard from Prince Harry that Meghan, while pregnant with Archie, was so low that she had considered harming herself or taking her own life because of the endless pressure she was under. I have recently listened to his book and his experiences of the press sound absolutely horrific, even for someone like him who has dealt with endless press ever since the moment he was born.

Harry’s book also talks about Caroline Flack’s death. He had a brief relationship with her back in 2009 and it sounds like they stayed friendly and respectful towards each other. He talks about his shock over her death and his fears that Meghan would end her own life too.

Harry speaks from a place of experience, let’s not forget – not only regarding his mother, but also his own experiences being portrayed as ‘naughty’ Harry, as a partying-obsessed waste of space.

Caroline’s friends and family have spoken out, saying that her suicide wouldn’t have happened were it not for the intense scrutiny she was under after being arrested at the end of 2019. Her friend Stephanie Davis, an actor, started a petition to establish new laws that would safeguard celebrities and people in the public eye.

Nearly four years on, it seems like we have learnt nothing from Caroline’s death.

For conspiracy theorists, no proof will ever be good enough

And now it’s Kate’s turn. And unlike Meghan, who has spoken out and who has now taken herself out of the public eye, Kate probably can’t speak up. She seems to have taken the family motto of ‘Never complain, never explain’ to heart.

The Palace explaining her editing the photo was an unprecedented move. Various commentators are requesting things like the posting of a video to ‘prove’ that Kate is alive and well. But for conspiracy theorists, no proof will ever be good enough in the eyes of these detractors.

Fortunately, they are a small minority, but the problem in the modern world is that they can easily band together and say things from behind a screen that they would be unlikely to say to someone’s face.

But these endless stories would be difficult for even the most stoic of us to deal with.

I only hope that Kate has enough people around her who care about her to get her through this.

Image credits: Executive Office of the President of the United States, Genevieve and Sean Reynolds