The past few weeks have been an example of the ongoing split between keeping private what would be private for anyone else, and the people’s desire to know how their royal family is doing. The desire for news about the British royal family has not only been reserved for its own citizens for decades, and in the social media age it appears to be insatiable. As if we can’t wait for the next season of the Netflix series The Crownbut the protagonists should provide a new episode here and now.
Catherine’s decision to recover out of sight after surgery was an understandable one. Just like the wish to first tell her children that she was suffering from cancer before the rest of the world would be informed. Both are her right.
Her choice also fits in with the way in which Prince William tries to give his family as much of a private life as possible – he shares his aversion to intrusive media with his brother Harry. After all, both brothers grew up with parents about whom every intimate (divorce) detail ended up on the front pages, and a mother who was chased by paparazzi until her death.
In light of this, from the birth of eldest son George, the couple decided to have most of the more informal family portraits taken by Catherine herself, and distributed via Kensington Palace’s own social media accounts. It meant that William and Kate kept control over what the public saw and when, and could allow less interference from the press.
The palace’s error in judgment was that these family snapshots became one of the few sources of information. The error of judgment by the media – and the public – was to trust the images as if they were independent information and not PR intended to promote the monarchy. What a miscalculation turned out to be when the latest photo, published on Mother’s Day, turned out to have been edited by the princess.
That photo was intended to silence online rumors about Catherine’s absence, which had already been announced in January until Easter. But as the late Queen Elizabeth once said, “I must be seen to be believed.”
Indeed, the monarchy thrives on visibility. Too little visibility leads to oblivion, said the nineteenth-century British constitutional historian Walter Bagehot. In 2024, it mainly leads to an information vacuum in which the wildest theories can arise. Kensington Palace clearly underestimated the dynamics this would bring about, so that only a video of the princess talking about her illness calmed the storm.
The many who have enjoyed the gossip are ashamed now that it is known that Catherine is suffering from cancer and that is why she was absent. But above all, they should ask themselves what they want from the members of the royal family if they want to preserve the monarchy. No man can be expected to reveal everything.
Also read
‘Time, space and privacy’ do not seem to be granted to Kate
Moreover, Catherine is neither head of state nor heir apparent, and is not accountable to parliament. Which is immediately different from King Charles, who quickly announced his cancer diagnosis and continued his work while zooming.
To share
Email the editor
