Conspiracy theories about Kate Middleton have reached boiling point

The public absence of Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, went from a concern among niche observers of the British royal family to an international joke in a matter of weeks.

Kensington Palace said the abdominal surgery the princess underwent in January was planned and meant she would be out of the spotlight until March.

However, several unusual details, such as grainy photos, an edited image, vague medical information and irregular updates from the British royal family, kept the public guessing.

And that's never a good thing, especially with Kate not having been seen in public since December.

Kate's alleged disappearance sent TikTok and X users delving into bizarre conspiracy theories and intertextual jokes on social media.

Crowds of amateur detectives have drawn up timelines and delved into the princess's movements over the past few months, combining real concern with conspiracies.

Ordinary citizens who work as forensic photography experts have suggested that recent images of Kate were fabricated, creating theories about where she really is and who they think is trying to cover up the “truth.”

And yes, there are lots of jokes.

At first, it was just the typical laughter that comes whenever there is something socially noteworthy: “Maybe Kate had a Brazilian Butt Lift! Maybe she has horrible bangs and is hiding them until they grow out! Maybe she’s getting in shape after a long MLB offseason!”

After the photo of the princess and her three children on Mother's Day was believed to have been altered, and subsequently taken down by news agencies, things started to get more serious and more confusing.

The British media, normally complimentary of royalty, began asking more incisive questions. American TV shows openly mocked what was quickly becoming a royal mess, even presenting theories that were once the exclusive fodder of gossip enthusiasts.

The uproar, the theories, the analyses, the jokes and, yes, the serious concern show the multiplicity of ways in which people interact with and view the British royal family.

“Palace intrigue”

It's not hard to understand why people are so invested in this particular piece of drama. After all, it’s called “palace intrigue” for a reason.

On social media and forums – and, in fact, even before the internet – royal watchers gathered to discuss who's doing what, who's on the outside and what the juiciest secrets are.

“They lead unattainable, unidentifiable lives, and yet I have been aware of them all my life,” commented Susan Graves.

The 40-year-old moved from Birmingham, UK, to the US almost 20 years ago and follows royal news on sites like Reddit, where the r/RoyalsGossip subreddit has more than 44,000 followers. subscribers.

“I’m old enough to remember when Princess Diana died and all the scandal and sadness that happened after that,” he said. CNN.

“And now, with everything going on with Prince Harry and his wife, the nastiest things going on with Prince Andrew, and the king being sick. It’s always something,” he added.

Carly Wainsworth, a 28-year-old American who also follows royal gossip on Reddit and elsewhere, told CNN that everything seems to solve a mystery.

“It sounds like fiction, but it’s not. It's real enough to be real, if that makes sense. Then you add things like an image in Photoshop and you can't help but be intrigued by what's going on,” he pondered.

She says even friends who don't usually care about the royal family have caught wind of the drama with the princess.

“Everyone loves a mystery. Many of these people find it fun to look for clues, to guess what is going on behind the scenes. It’s the same thing people do when they gossip about people they actually know.”

Both Graves and Wainsworth point out that shows like “The Crown” and controversies surrounding various members of the royal family have influenced the way people view the monarchy.

This is also due to the media's treatment of Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and the consequences of Harry's memoir, “Spare”, to more serious issues such as the accusations against King Charles' brother, Prince Andrew , and even the enduring interest in the life and death of Princess Diana.

“I don't know if it's because I'm American or something, but I assume they're always hiding something. No [a família real] specifically, just anyone in that kind of position,” commented Wainsworth.

Social media platform

“Kate is missing and Twitter is on the case! Join us, indulge in your guilty pleasure,” the description reads.

Videos and posts in the group describe stories that can surpass any thriller fictional mystery. On the other hand, there are also Photoshop works of Kate holding hands with her eternal celebrity boyfriend Pete Davidson and jokes that she may be taking a turn on the reality show “The Masked Singer”.

International jokes

It's one thing for gossip lovers at home to delve into royal conspiracy theories, but as Kate's absence from the public eye increases, entertainment outlets and the media are getting bolder in their speculation.

On a recent episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, host Stephen Colbert openly fueled rumors about Kate and William's personal lives.

In a single line, he also summed up what so many interested parties feel about the controversy: concern for Kate as a person, but at the same time, a hunger for more details.

“My heart goes out to Kate. Now let’s spread the hot gossip!” she joked.

The Daily Show poked fun at the Mother's Day photo controversy with a fake London correspondent reading out a list of things that were “also Kate's fault,” including “colonization and the whole Prince Andrew thing.”

Even Dublin Airport got in on the funposting on social media a tongue-in-cheek image of Oscar-winning actor Cillian Murphy, obviously Photoshopped, taken by his new “social media intern Kate.”

Dissolution of trust

More appalling than the escalating transatlantic comedy routine is the apparent dissolution of trust between some media outlets and the British royal family.

After Kate apologized for the edited Mother's Day image, the global director of one of the largest news and photography agencies in the world pointed out that Kensington Palace, which released the photo, was no longer considered a “trustworthy source”.

“As with anything, when you are let down by a source, the level [de alerta] increases and we have big internal problems”, explained the head of the AFP agency, Phil Chetwynd, to the BBC in an interview.

The British Press Photographers Association released a statement calling on Kensington Palace to “make the original images available for inspection so that we can assess what has been done” and “ensure this does not happen again”.

Members of the British media are also beginning to openly question the official narrative of Kate's absence. “Feeding the frenzy over Kate proves the royals must be more transparent,” reads a recent headline from The Daily Mail, a media outlet that is generally sympathetic in its coverage of royal news.

Actual answer didn't calm things down

Throughout the controversy, official information from Kensington Palace, which is the London residence and office of Prince William and Kate, has been controversial.

Royal experts have noted that the palace does not normally respond to rumors about the royal family, but has taken the rare step of responding to unconfirmed reports about Kate's condition.

At the same time, the palace did not respond to requests for an unedited version of the Mother's Day photo, nor did it provide further information about Kate's whereabouts.

Mark Borkowski, a London-based public relations and crisis communications expert, told People magazine that the British royal family's long-standing culture of silence isn't doing them any favors when it comes to quelling conspiracies about Kate's absence.

“The difficulty now is because there is so little information about what is happening to Kate, if they were to project that things are normal in this way, with a photo that is now considered fake, the difficulty and poor decision making is quite striking. that is happening”, highlighted Borkowski.

While some voices have called on speculators to give Kate and the royal family some privacy, and others have suggested completely reasonable explanations for Kate's disappearance, the fact remains: for one reason or another, people care about the royals.

And, as figures of national value, it is part of their duty to be careful.

“In a constitutional monarchy, where kings and queens exercise little real power but a lot of soft power, visibility is everything,” wrote Rosa Prince, deputy editor of Politico UK, for CNN.

“They may not be able to pass laws, negotiate treaties or order troops into battle, but British royalty can open supermarkets, attend premieres and visit the sick. Without that, as the song from the movie Barbie says, what were they made for?” he asked.