For days now, I’ve been rolling my eyes at the excerpts from Robert Jobson’s latest royal tome, Catherine, The Princess Of Wales: The Biography. Jobson deals in revisionist history and outright fiction, and he openly does Queen Camilla’s dirty work. Most of the “tea” has been lukewarm, if not outright stale. But I chanced upon this section and I found it fascinating. Keep in mind, the bulk of the book – allegedly a biography of Kate – seems to be the Sussexes and Prince William. But Jobson has some interesting information about the Mother’s Day frankenphoto fiasco back in March, and how Prince William thought nothing of tossing his cancer-stricken wife under the bus.
Meanwhile, Catherine unexpectedly became the centre of a media storm. Her absence from the public stage had already fuelled frenzied internet conspiracy theories by the time she released a family photo to mark Mother’s Day, which she’d digitally edited.
The doctored photo sparked a furore, leaving the fragile princess saddened and deeply embarrassed. Naively, she’d edited the best shot taken by William at least three times to make the family look better – yet people had immediately noticed something was wrong with Princess Charlotte’s sleeve.
Even the White House press secretary mocked the royal couple, giving the U.S. press corps assurances that no images by them would ever be doctored. Despite the clamour, the Palace refused to release the original photo, which only sparked further fevered speculation. Close sources say that it was Prince William who refused to budge.
His PR team suggested he and Catherine issue a joint statement to help deflect the blame from her. The initial prepared statement used the words ‘we’ and ‘our’, but the prince decided not to release it. After all, it was his wife who’d manipulated the snap and nothing to do with him, and if the Press found out that he was covering for the princess, the speculation would only grow. When the statement was finally issued, it came from Catherine alone.
Then came her deeply shocking video announcement that she had cancer and had started preventative chemotherapy. Two pillars of the monarchy were now facing serious medical challenges that would impede their royal duties, in Catherine’s case for months. The Sussex-shaped void in the Royal Family has never loomed so large, yet there is no question of them stepping in to help. William remains adamant about that.
As for King Charles, he’s let it be known that he’ll never shut the door on his second child, though there seems little chance of a meaningful reconciliation for now.
…The ‘Harry problem’, as it’s known among Palace staff, continues to plague the King. ‘What worries His Majesty, and his top team,’ says a Palace official, ‘is what is going to happen when all the money runs out.’
First of all, the “what is going to happen when all the money runs out” issue is hilarious because the Sussexes are living in a beautiful Montecito mansion and they have millions in the bank. They have created generational wealth in four years. The Windsors are clinging to their cracked-out fantasy/dream/hope that at some point, the money will run out and Harry will come crawling back to them. They’ve been banking on that for years. It’s never going to happen.
As for the stuff about Kate and the statement… William is a complete piece of sh-t. That whole Mother’s Day frankenphoto fiasco was a sh-tshow from start to finish. I don’t even believe – I never believed – that Kate was the one who edited the photo, nor did I believe that William took the photo. He wouldn’t even fall on his sword in a minor way to protect his wife with cancer in a PR snafu. Please don’t let the clownshow of the first six months of 2024 be forgotten.
Photos courtesy of Kensington Palace.