The wildest, even hurtful conspiracy theories about Kate’s whereabouts circulated for weeks – also because the palace press offices didn’t understand how publicity works in the age of TikTok & Co.
Princess Kate’s confession that she was suffering from cancer only lasted a few minutes – it ended a months-long, absurd search for clues, especially on social media. The hype paints a frightening picture of the public’s desire for royal images and news – but also of a palace press work that has not understood the mechanisms of the social media age.
A few weeks ago, when Prince William apologized “for personal reasons” after just 90 minutes at the memorial service for a relative, the question became more and more pressing: Maybe because of Kate? Was she doing much worse than initially announced?