Kate Middleton: The mistake that reveals the vulnerability of the British royal family

The emperor’s new suit, the nineteenth-century fable of Hans Christian Andersen contains a moral that remains valid: “What everyone thinks is true does not have to be true.” He also teaches us that there are no stupid questions. The warnings from Andersen’s children’s story resonate more than ever in Buckingham Palace, the official residence of the king of the United Kingdom and the spiritual temple of the British monarchy. In September 2022, when Charles Mountbatten-Windsor was proclaimed Charles III, public opinion in that country unanimously celebrated the arrival to the throne of a 74-year-old man who had been waiting for his moment for more than half a century. Today, a year and a half later, the people wonder if their king is naked.

Carlos III has retired from public life to treat cancer; his wife, Queen Camilla, has had to take a week’s vacation due to exhaustion; Princess Catherine is on medical leave after a mysterious tummy tuck; Prince William, heir to the throne, has reduced his official engagements to accompany his convalescing wife; Prince Andrew has disappeared from the institutional agenda after the scandal of Epstein case; Prince Harry is outside the royal family and lives in California. People are wondering: who is in charge of the institution, one of the pillars of the United Kingdom?

Never before had the British seen their monarchy so naked and vulnerable. The controversy surrounding the illness of Kate, Princess of Wales, is probably the one that is most testing the seams of the invisible suit that dresses the institution. On Tuesday, January 16, the princess underwent planned abdominal surgery, spent two weeks convalescent in hospital, and has disappeared from the public scene, at least until after Easter. Her long absence suggests that the diagnosis is serious, but no one has clarified what is happening to her. “The princess trusts that citizens understand her desire for her personal medical information to remain private,” the Palace explained in a statement. But the citizens have not understood it.

Public opinion has been speculating about Catalina’s health for weeks and that has forced the princess to make a series of appearances as a test of life. The first was a week ago, when she allowed herself to be photographed in the passenger seat of a car driven by her mother, around Windsor Castle. The second was this weekend, when she posted a photo of herself surrounded by her three children on her social media. The manipulation of the image only fueled hoaxes and conspiracy theories about the severity of her illness. The Princess of Wales has been forced to apologize. “Like many amateur photographers, I sometimes experiment with editing. I want to express my apologies for any confusion caused by the family photo we shared,” she said. This Monday, a few hours after apologizing, she was seen leaving Windsor in another car, accompanied by her husband.

The decisions of the Princess of Wales regarding the management of her convalescence have plunged the British monarchy into a crisis of communication, image and credibility. It was she who decided that her medical information should be kept private, which has, in turn, generated further speculation about her condition. And she also decided to spread to the press—at least the official version attributes exclusive responsibility to her—a manipulated image that has sown more doubts about her health. The case has exposed the communication problems of the Royal House and has reopened the eternal debate between privacy and transparency, a recurring dilemma of the British royal family. The Windsors have to reign in a country where the tabloids have enormous power and influence and in the past have opened true constitutional and political crises, shaking the institution with compromising photos of Lady Di or Sarah Ferguson and intimate recordings of the now kings Carlos and Camila.

This is the first time that Kate Middleton, dubbed by the press in her country as “the jewel in the Crown,” has become a real problem for the British monarchy. A survey conducted by the British television channel Sky News in May 2023 placed her as the second most popular and most appreciated member of the royal family, only behind Prince William. 59% of those surveyed rated her as “very favorable” or “mostly favorable”, far ahead of King Charles and Queen Camilla. Today, a year after the survey, she has become an Achilles heel for the Crown.

But the future queen of the United Kingdom has been dealing with media pressure, public scrutiny and criticism for more than two decades. Middleton ceased to be an unknown on March 26, 2002, when she participated in a parade at the University of St. Andrews to benefit the victims of the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers. “Wow!” Prince William exclaimed to her friend Fergus Boyd when he saw her parade. That day, Kate lost her anonymity.

The aristocratic and upper-class circles in which the prince moved considered that Middleton, coming from an upper-middle-class family, was not good enough for the future heir to the throne. Some friends of Diana of Wales’s son called her “Kate Middle Class” (Middle class Kate), they joked about the fact that her mother, Carole Middleton, had worked as a stewardess for British Airways, and laughed at her way of speaking. In 2007, Kate used the word “toilet” instead of “loo,” the way aristocrats often refer to a bathroom. The toffsthe wealthy English upper class, leaked the anecdote to the press, which titled the matter as the Toiletgate.

They say Middleton never let it get to him. He also stoically endured media pressure. In 2004, when the courtship with the prince was already official, journalists incessantly asked a 22-year-old William if he had wedding plans. The young man answered horrified that he did not want to get married until he was 28 or 30. Then the media nicknamed his girlfriend “Waity Katie” (Katie the Waiter or Katie the Patient). Then, when she quit her job at Jigsaw Jewelry to prepare for her life in the royal family, she was called “Lazy Katie” (Katie la vague).

Unlike her sister-in-law, Meghan Markle, Middleton has quietly endured the harassment of the tabloids and tabloid press in her country. After eight years of dating, in 2010 she became engaged to the prince and in 2011 she married him. Since then, she has earned her popularity, becoming a key player in the British monarchy. The question now is whether she will emerge victorious from this controversy that has increased the feeling of turbulence in the Crown.

Follow all the international information on Facebook y Xor our weekly newsletter.