As we discussed, the Princess of Wales’s second public appearance of 2024 went very well. Kate appeared at Wimbledon on Sunday for the men’s final, and she received standing ovations when she entered the Royal Box and when she appeared on court for the trophy presentation. ESPN’s American commentators mentioned on air, during the trophy presentation, that Kate has had health issues in recent years. The royalists were falling all over themselves to praise Kate’s courage for showing up to Wimbledon before her summer vacation began. It’s been wall-to-wall positivity in the American and British media. But they can’t control social media, and they can’t control the handful of people who wonder if it looked kind of ridiculous that Kate came out for Wimbledon and nothing else.
“I felt sightly uncomfortable about (Kate’s standing ovation) thinking about everybody else that’s going through cancer…”
Jemma Forte says what a lot of British people feel but don’t want to say out loudly. pic.twitter.com/9REczMxzS4
— Glow Lee (@GlowanneLee) July 16, 2024
I think Jemma Forte’s comments here are completely appropriate and it’s interesting to see someone hedge around why it’s been sort of bizarre to see Kate at her two public appearances this year. There’s a feeling of… she can do this, but not anything else? Zooming to support a cancer charity or having video conferences with cancer patients would go a long way. People would be less skeptical if there was more disclosure about her diagnosis and treatment. And: there are so many people with cancer who have it a lot harder. It’s the “lesser mortals” issue from last month too, when the Telegraph boldly proclaimed that Kate deserved to be praised lavishly for attending Trooping when “lesser mortals” would have stayed home. Lesser mortals being… people with cancer and not enough access or support. At least they didn’t say that “lesser mortals” would have avoided coming to Wimbledon.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.