Fans feel Kate Middleton’s reputation was run through the mud because Kensington Palace did nothing to protect her during her health crisis.
HIGHLIGHTS
The British royals maintain control over leaked information, keeping themselves distant from the public eye.
The palace’s secrecy about Kate’s health led to speculation, creating scandal and conspiracy theories.
Fans believe the palace mishandled Kate’s post-surgery PR, damaging her reputation and credibility.
When it comes to what happens in the lives of the British royals, there is nothing leaked that The Firm does not want the public to know. This has been a tradition for years and it has always kept the royals at arm’s length from commoners. However, it appeared that the younger generation of royals was going to break this cycle and be more approachable. But, as proven by the last several months of Kate Middleton‘s recovery post-abdominal surgery, this was anything but the case. Kate has been accused of creating scandals before, but nothing like the photoshopped image of her and her children, which invited intense speculation.
As a result of the palace choosing to keep the Princess of Wales’ health status under wraps, the public grew skeptical of what was really wrong with her. Conspiracy theories abounded as to whether William and Kate were splitting up. If they were, then it was because William was having an affair. Many wondered if Kate was still alive. Others even questioned if a trip out to a farmer’s market was truly the royal couple or not.
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Kate and William could do nothing to stop the conspiracy theories. The entire situation was exacerbated when Kate posted the Mother’s Day photo on social media that was clearly edited, which called her and the palace’s credibility into question even further.
With each day that passed, Kate’s image was being chipped away at. Yet the palace did nothing to help her. Instead, fans blamed the Royal Palace for ruining Kate Middleton’s image amid her health crisis. A move that showed that perhaps the palace and The Firm were not as protective of Kate as they claimed to be.
How Fans Think The Palace Ruined Kate Middleton’s Reputation Post-Abdominal Surgery
By not denying any rumors or giving updates on Kate Middleton’s condition, fans feel Kate Middleton’s reputation was ruined
Kate has always been one to be very giving when it comes to the time she gives to the public. Coming off as warm and friendly and willing to jump into any situation, the princess has been compared to Princess Diana on more than one occasion. That is why when things went radio silent with Kate, the public took notice, believing wholeheartedly that the palace ruined Kate’s reputation post-abdominal surgery.
“This woman was failed at every conceivable point,” one fan said. “Silence during a crisis breeds suspicion and speculation. Social media provides a broad, uncontrollable platform and rewards those who amplify the nonsense.”
A second fan stated, “I feel terrible for Kate. She was failed again and again; heads should roll for this. An enormous part of PR for an institution is protecting your people and leaders, both giving them solid advice (even if they then ignore it) but also anticipating exactly this sort of thing and taking steps to head it off at the pass.”
“Publicly failing to defend and support women in this family is very much on brand for KP,” a third critic explained. “Diana was failed. Meghan was failed. now it’s Kate’s turn. KP don’t care who gets hurt as long as their image is protected yet it has the opposite impact.”
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Fans of Kate’s were even quick to state what it was that they would have done instead to head the entire PR debacle off at the pass before it even began. They also wondered why, when the solution to the situation seemed so obvious that the Royal Palace did nothing to change the narrative floating around social media.
What Fans Think The Palace Could Have Done Differently For Kate Middleton
If Kensington Palace were upfront about Kate Middleton’s position, fans feel all the controversy could have been avoided
When it came to how the palace handled the post-abdominal surgery statements for Kate, fans felt that there was very little that was done right. In fact, there were so many things that the Royal Palace did wrong that those missteps far outweighed any good that was attempted by the palace to mitigate the situation after Kate’s surgery.
“I would have never issued that short statement signed by “C” owning up to editing the photo,” a fan explained. “Bad move. Would have been better to let it fade to the next news cycle. What was already weird was made weirder and provoked more criticism. They are also adding gasoline to the fire by not being transparent about her stomach condition or King Charles cancer. Transparency is key to avoid speculation.”
Another fan stated on Reddit, “This all would be prevented with a simple statement on day 0, stating the obvious, Kate, Princess of Wales has a medical problem and she is dealing with that, and she will inform the public when she has some updated information. During that period, she will cancel her public duties and remain with her family. That is it.”
“The problem is that Kensington Palace went radio silent. Usually, when Kate is on break, her reps fill her social media feed with old fluff about her,” a third fan said,
“And if she’s on medical leave, that could have included a short note from “her” thanking her charities for their work and saying she looks forward to seeing them in person again. The radio silence made it seem like KP didn’t know if Kate could commit to returning to public life.”
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What is interesting about Kate’s situation is that the way her post-operative press was handled was completely opposite that of King Charles. Given that both were operative procedures, it is hard to understand why there were two very different tactics taken when handling press for the King versus that of the future Queen Consort.
How King Charles’ Post-Cancer Diagnosis Was Handled Differently From Kate Middleton’s Post-Abdominal Surgery
King Charles received sympathy for his cancer diagnosis while Kate Middleton received scrutiny for remaining mum about her health status
When King Charles and Kate announced that they were having surgical procedures done, it was done on the same day in January 2024. While Charles’ announcement was one that provided an explanation, Kate’s was significantly more veiled in secrecy, a trend that would continue after Charles’ announcement that he had cancer, while Kate remained silent about the status of her health.
The reason that Charles chose to be upfront about the fact that he was having a procedure done had to do with the fact that being “transparent” would lead to less worry than a broad statement about a medical procedure.
“It was sensible to be more open about it, as otherwise, people might have thought the worst,” a palace insider explained.
Insiders also said that Kate chose to remain quiet because she wanted to “maintain as much normality” for her children as possible.
However, as the weeks and months dragged on and nothing was seen from Kate, Charles put out a statement that he was being treated for cancer. This allowed him to demonstrate a level of transparency not often seen from the king. An outpouring of support was given to the king because of this. Questions and conspiracy theories only abounded for Kate.
Not only did Charles film a message of thanks for those sending him letters, messages, and well wishes, but William put out a message thanking everyone who was supporting Charles. However, he did nothing for Kate. This led to speculation that there were marital problems afoot.
As rumors continued to swirl about Kate, Charles stayed in the public eye. There was no question about his medical status. No intrigue and no second-guessing about the king. But, with all the secrecy of not seeing Kate and then the Mother’s Day photo that was altered, the credibility that Kate had worked so hard to build up with people began rapidly declining, with Kensington Palace doing nothing to help the situation. A move that may just prove to be costly to the monarchy in the future.
