I certainly don’t put the blame on Kate for this. Regardless of the correct story, SOMETHING health wise happened to her.
It’s not like William and Kate are the family next store handling a/the crisis on their own. It’s the network, or what we you want to call it - the Royal staff who helps make ALL the info release decisions text or photo or video.
Maybe they are getting their direction from W/K, who knows.
It’s all so odd. Do the children go to school? Do they talk at school? Do their teachers know something is up beyond what the public knows? I mean totally leave the kids alone but someone, somewhere - or everyone, everywhere - is doing some amazing hush-hush.
But you have added quite a bit of personal interpretation to what was actually stated as the reason kill notice. What the AP Kill Notification actually says word for word is:
“The reason for killing the story: At closer inspection it appears that the source has manipulated the image. No replacement photo will be sent.”
This may have been said, but as proof of life, why not an audio of her thanking the well wisher and stating she is on the mend, or something to that effect. Unless she is in a coma, or so drugged that she can’t speak, why not have her just speak to the public without being seen? Would this not work as some damage control?
Even if some of the rumors are true, lets say she is camping out at her parent’s house, she could phone in a message. I just don’t get it.
Yes absolutely - that came from the various interviews with journalists that are circulating now about how unusual it is for something like this to happen. I personally wouldn’t have noticed anything amiss other than the fuzzy hand, but the pundits out there (amateur and professional) are sure making a strong case that the manipulation goes beyond your garden variety xmas card glow-up.
Per the different treatment of Kate vs Meghan, I think that Kate has built up admiration and affection over time. And from what we see, she has been willing to play the royal game. Meghan and Harry had the desire and freedom to escape after a relatively short time. Perhaps it was justified, but certainly there was not enough time for the British press and people to warm to the new, American bride.
King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands on a walkabout listened to a comment from a young girl regarding his family portrait and responded, “Really?!? At least I didn’t Photoshop it.”
My guess is he’s not going to be invited to Buckingham Palace anytime soon.
Our last professional family photo was taken 12 years ago. Same thing happened as far as lots of fast shots taken in one particular pose. In our favorite one, DH’s smile was just a little off. Another one no one had moved and his smile was better. Because we hadn’t moved, she was able to replace his head with the better one and it looked perfect. She also faded out my crow’s feet when I smiled which I loved her for.
I have a feeling Kate did do this. William probably was snapping away and she took the best from each photo. And she came out and told some of the truth, meaning she didn’t tell just how much she manipulated it.
Ha, my husband’s head was replaced in a family photo, too. I don’t think anyone else would notice, but every time I look at it, it seems a little weird!
If the photo was indeed real and recent, then Kate looks fine and there should be no reason why she can’t choreograph a photo op at wherever she is for a few journalists who agree to be on their best behavior (who wouldn’t do whatever they ask to get this exclusive?!) That way, an unaffiliated person gets the photo.
I believe the theory that she is medically fine but no longer cooperating with the RF, for whatever reason (the affair/pregnancy thing is gaining ground). Otherwise, there would be no other reason (except an ongoing medical emergency) that she couldn’t clock in at some point and disprove all of the rumors.
As far as her medical privacy, she could give more details without specifics - like she had Crohn’s-related surgery and needs to continue to rest, stress-free, and appreciates the public’s cooperation in not circulating any unsubstantiated rumors otherwise, which will cause her stress and prolong her recovery. She appears to be very well liked by the British public, and if she asked for their help in this manner, I believe they would comply.
In reading the article (and sadly, I am now among the many who can’t seem to step away from this PR crash), I will have to defend William here.
While visiting a youth group in Shepherd’s Bush, Prince William made a self-deprecating joke as he decorated biscuits by saying, ‘My wife’s the arty one.’
To me he wasn’t poking fun at his wife, he was poking fun at himself. I suspect that his cookies might have looked like mine (someone who is not artistically talented) and was saying that if Kate was decorating cookies, that they would have been more artistically pleasing.
I think he was saying what anyone would say when one is poking fun at himself and trying to give a compliment to the wife.
Of course, in this situation, everyone thinks to himself, “Well…maybe she’s not so artsy.” This is unfortunate as he is making small talk with children and the nearby press.
He’s in a no-win situation with any comments while all of this is brewing.
And Pete Souza (Obama’s White House photographer) enters the chat to explain the difference between a photograph being “photoshopped” and “altered”. News agencies typically accept images that have been photoshopped, but not those that have been altered. In his Instagram post, Souza gives examples of what is an acceptable level of photoshopping, and what constitutes unacceptable alterations. He’s not implying that the photo is entirely fake, but he is clearly saying that the image has been altered and not just photoshopped. (Mashing up several different images from the same shoot is considered alteration and does not meet journalistic standards).
All of which begs the question of who allowed this photo to be released! The palace will have known exactly what the standards for image editing are. Either a senior palace official allowed this photo to go out knowing there was a chance of the photo being killed, OR a working royal somehow overrode palace advice and released it anyway. No matter how you slice it, someone F’d up royally (haha), and then let Kate take the blame (all while carefully wording her tweet to not actually admit altering this particular photo). The math still ain’t mathing.
Well…here is another thought. IF Princess Kate has a colostomy, won’t she need to go to the hospital again to have this reversed? Easter is in two weeks…
Easter will be here before we know it. When her surgery was first announced Easter seemed so far off, but here it comes. My group chat was discussing yesterday that if she couldn’t be in a photograph last week, how is she going to stroll down the church steps in two weeks.
I actually agree with you. The delivery/tone of 'My wife’s the arty one’, when William actually said it, matters. Personally, I would give him the benefit of the doubt that it was a self-deprecating joke.
However two things jumped out at me with the article. First it seems the deferential treatment the Royals have benefited from is crumbling. I’ve noticed in the past that most media outlets, including those in the US, had been regurgitating whatever the royal rota put out as indisputable fact. I believe those days are over.
Second, I couldn’t help but think of Meghan getting similar treatment concerning the overly dramatic curtsy to the Queen as displayed in the Netflix show.
When I had watched it, I didn’t see it as a diss to the Queen, but her attempt at self-deprecating humor. As an American I couldn’t imagine how strange/foreign it must’ve felt to be expected to curtsy to a family member when not in public. Obviously it seemed to offend many and I still don’t believe that was the intent. I chalked it up to cultural differences.
Regardless I empathize with anyone who has to deal with that level of scrutiny. In my opinion it’s an example of ‘being a bird in a gilded cage’.
As for this photoshop story, it has grown into a huge deal. It’s emblematic of the manipulation used to create a (fake) facade. The reason it’s problematic for the monarchy is that a lot of their influence depends on the masses accepting the concept of their sovereignty. Perhaps that’s why the UK tabloids put so much emphasis on popularity polls.
I also wanted to add that we have been watching the British news the last few nights, and they talked about Kate’s pic and her whereabouts on day 1 of the photo but have not since. So it is either the press has been told to step back from the gossip or that the British people have made it clear they think it is being intrusive to continue reporting. While it is rampant on TikTok and US gossip sites, it appears to have a different effect in GB.
