The Palace has a serious trust problem

Princess Kate's absence is highlighting a troubling new trend for the Monarchy.

The Internet thinks that Kate Middleton is missing. But that’s not the Palace’s biggest problem.

Kensington Palace has been vague about Catherine, Princess of Wales’ health condition since announcing her abdominal surgery on January 17th, 2024. And despite initial pleas “that the public will understand [Kate’s] desire to maintain as much normality for her children as possible; and her wish that her personal medical information remains private,” social media was launched into a frenzy in late February—as the public came to grips with the fact that she had not been seen publicly since Christmas.

It’s easy to see why this could raise alarms; Kate has been positioned as a stabilizing and constant force within the British Monarchy since her 2011 wedding to Prince William—and even more so in the last year since the departure of Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex in 2020 and the death of Queen Elizabeth in 2022.

Conspiracy theories, ranging from the inane (BBL, facelift, bad bangs) to the insane (kidnap, domestic abuse, a hostage situation), followed. And now, with the latest developments in the “case,” it’s become clear that the Palace is lacking the needed rapport with the public to prove otherwise.

Matters were only made worse when a paparazzi photo of Kate, wearing sunglasses in a car driven by her mother, was published last week by TMZ. Social media users were sent further into a spiral. Rather than be reassured, many doubled down and insisted that it was not Kate in the photo but a body double or her sister, Pippa.

And on Tuesday of last week, the British armed forces (of all possible players) inadvertently added to the chaos when an official entry on their website noted that Kate would attend Trooping the Colour in mid-June…before removing her name mere hours later. Kensington Palace sources insisted that they did not approve such an announcement.

Supporters of the Royal Family have been able to neatly dismiss the speculation as nonsense throughout all of these instances. But the final blow seems to have crashed its way into this ongoing saga, and this one is proving more difficult to come to terms with.

Over the weekend, to mark Mothering Sunday in the UK, Kensington Palace released the first official photo of the Princess of Wales since her abdominal surgery. The picture, shared on Instagram and Twitter, shows a smiling Princess of Wales enveloped by her children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. Captioned, “Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months. Wishing everyone a Happy Mother’s Day,'“ the post, which was signed “C” for Catherine. The public was told that the photo was taken by Prince William himself at the family’s home in Windsor “earlier this week.”

The photo should have been a welcome glimpse of a recovering princess; after all, well-wishers have largely taken to social media to wish Kate a speedy recovery. Kensington Palace hasn't provided any updates on Kate’s health beyond a curt “she continues to do well,” and reaffirmed guidance that she is still expected to return to her royal duties sometime after Easter (which falls on March 31st, in just three weeks).

But the Royal Family also has their critics, who quickly cast scrupulous eyes onto the snapshot. It was first noted that Kate was not wearing her heirloom sapphire engagement ring, nor her Welsh gold wedding band in the photo. Odd, perhaps, for a woman whose entire public persona is irrevocably linked to those rings—but not conceivably outlandish for one also experiencing a rough recovery after major surgery.

“Palace sources” appeared to obfuscate when asked about Kate’s ring-less hand (and the implication that marital troubles might provide an undercurrent to her recovery time), merely “pointing out” that the photo was taken at home, and by her husband.

If I might hazard a guess here, social media users were likely spurred on in their quest for “answers” by the snark and derisiveness of this explanation (in addition to the unamused tone of Kensington Palace’s earlier statement that the timeline of the princess’s recovery was “made clear” and they would not be cowed into revealing more).

I’m also willing to bet that it was users zooming in on Kate’s ring finger that caused additional discrepancies within the photo to emerge. Because the “missing” rings are just the tip of the iceberg.

Viewers flagged many details from the image as “fishy”—and most likely digitally altered. These included Princess Charlotte’s sleeve (which seemed to phase out of existence where it interested her waist), a misaligned pattern on Prince Louis’ jumper, and a disjointed step behind the family.

The general consensus was that the photo was, at best, an amalgamation of several snapshots meant to provide the best image of each person in it. But at worst, users concluded, this could even be a case of AI generation.

This wouldn’t have been the first time that the Royals, or even Will and Kate, have been accused of manipulating official images. Their 2023 holiday card attracted scrutiny over apparent editing, and a 2015 photo of a baby Princess Charlotte and toddler Prince George has long been theorized as another (albeit harmless) instance of amalgamating multiple images in the quest for the “perfect” shot."

A 2015 holiday card previously drew criticism over apparent manipulation.

Before long, global news agencies (Reuters, Getty Images, and the Associated Press) issued a “kill notice” regarding the 2024 photo, recommending that their clients withdraw the photo over concerns that it had been manipulated.

To reiterate: the first official pictures of Catherine released by Kensington Palace since her surgery— which also featured her three children—had been dubbed altered by the world’s most trusted news agencies, and did not meet journalistic photo standards. The AP later referenced the “inconsistency in the alignment” of Princess Charlotte’s hand as one reason for the retraction.

As of Sunday evening, Kensington Palace had not issued a statement about the retraction by the news agencies. In fact, the Palace refused to comment.

But users on X went so far as to add a community note to Will and Kate’s original post, noting the global consensus that the image was manipulated.

On Monday morning, a tweet from the Prince and Princess of Wales’ account (signed, again, C for Catherine) read: “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day.”

Now, examining the validity of this story is impossible. But immediately, social media users expressed their dissatisfaction with this “conclusion,” supposing that Kate was merely being made to “take the fall” for the gaffe.

In other words: no one trusts the Palace enough to buy what they’re selling.

The Wales communications blackout is markedly dissimilar from the approach taken by Buckingham Palace, which issues information on King Charles III. The Washington Post notes that “Even though King Charles III has largely been out of the public eye since Buckingham Palace announced he was undergoing treatment for cancer, the royal Instagram account has been buzzing with posts—since his diagnosis, the palace has posted images of the king holding Zoom chats with foreign leaders and greeting ambassadors behind closed doors. In a video montage, he is seen reading ‘get well’ letters.”

The problem goes beyond Kensington Palace, however innocently, wanting to display the best possible image of its first family. The real issue lies with the decision-making process going on behind the scenes. In the midst of such intense media (and social media) scrutiny, a manipulated image should never have been approved—assuming, of course, that anyone with an ounce of sense works on Will and Kate’s Palace comms team.

And if I’m being honest, I don’t even think this gaffe occurred for any conspiratorial reasons. I don’t think Kate is in a coma or got plastic surgery or is gone. And you’d assume that a Palace that was actually trying to cover up a genuine conspiracy would be better at this. Their ineptitude, in my line of thinking, is proof positive that no wide-ranging conspiracy is afoot. They can’t even manage posting a simple family photo.

But that logic, such as it is, won’t matter to the wider public, who are increasingly prone to jumping to conclusions, no matter how far-fetched. Many will read the headlines pertaining to Sunday’s photo, see the words “Palace,” “doctored photo,” and “Kate”…and conclude the worst

It should also be noted that many viewers online went beyond the evident Photoshop fails (and any benign explanations for them)—causing any defenses of “combining” multiple images or “touching up” to be made completely moot. The timing of the photo, given as early March, has also been contested, due to a patch of grass and foliage which was deemed “too green” for this time of year. And with no available metadata or third-party confirmation, there’s no reason for already-suspicious individuals to believe that Prince William took the highly edited photo himself, let alone took it this month.

Everything from Prince Louis’ missing tooth to Princess Charlotte’s hair length have suddenly been called into question, their images compared to any other available pictures of them from late last year.

And for every “con”—every reason to distrust this photo, to be skeptical regarding statements on Kate—there are no “pros” in the Palace’s favor. There has been no good faith stored up for a rainy day, no earned sense of trust and confidence. It took a true monarchical crisis, complete with a cancer-stricken king and missing princess, to fully put that into perspective.

People simply don’t trust the royal family, evidently in greater numbers with each passing day. For some, the ill-treatment of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at the hands of Palace aides (and perhaps their own family members) has dramatically eroded any goodwill they might have enjoyed.

For others, the fragile balance of mutual respect between monarch and subjects dissolved more subtly: with the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. It’s no coincidence that Elizabeth enjoyed consistent, if not astronomical, approval ratings until her final days. The record-breaking monarch famously donned brightly-colored ensembles for her ubiquitous public appearances, and sagely once remarked, “I have to be seen to be believed.”

If Elizabeth upheld the delicate contract that the British Monarch must maintain between themselves and the public, it seems that her family is, in her absence, intent on ripping it up.

But a more sinister undercurrent to much of the distrust seems to derive from the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997—and the belief of many that the Palace contributed to it, whether by driving her to emotional desperation or by more direct means.

The bottom line is that the public has been given no reason in the past 30-odd years to trust that “the Firm” will do right by the women who marry into it. First, it was Diana who suffered at the hands of her in-laws, and then Meghan. In many people’s minds, it must logically now be Kate who must bear the brunt of their self-serving treatment.

At this point, it seems that nothing short of a living, breathing Princess Kate, live and in 4K, will convince the Internet that she's alive. Even when she does return to regular duties, she will still face endless critiques of her appearance, speech, and movements before being given the “all clear” by social media commenters.

But the effort that Kate and her team of stylists, PR experts, and aides need to put in pales in comparison to the real legwork needed for the Palace to repair its reputation and relationship with the public. And to make matters worse, the Firm faces a public that is growing increasingly skeptical that a monarchy is needed at all in this day and age.

It’s a tall order, and I’m afraid that one photo of a smiling nuclear family won’t be enough to cut it.