On Sunday night, as the Oscars were happening, royalists were slowly melting down and tweeting through it as major news agencies killed the “manipulated” Mother’s Day photo from Kensington Palace. It was incredible to watch in real time as even true-blue sycophants clutched their pearls and dared to question the lies they were getting from KP. And now, Richard Kay at the Mail has entered the chat. Kay is a royalist and, even more than that, he’s now closely aligned with KP and Prince William specifically. Kay gets a call when William needs to do clean up on one of his messes (famously, the Rose Hanbury affair story). So it’s interesting to watch Kay really question everything about the series of boneheaded moves from William and his staff right now. Some highlights from Kay’s latest Daily Mail column:
Kay does not believe the palace’s lies: As recriminations flew over the photograph, which cast a deep shadow over the Commonwealth Day service of celebration at Westminster Abbey, royal insiders were privately insisting that there had been no professional manipulation but merely a little tidying up of a picture which captured a private moment. But that explanation simply won’t do. This was no snapshot destined for a family photo album but an image that was going to be shared with the world in a bid to crush the speculation about Kate’s health once and for all. How foolish such expectations look now.
No one believes Kate’s apology either: Palace minders must have hoped that Kate’s mea culpa would head off this dangerous and unforeseen crisis. But far from ‘killing’ the story, her statement breathed new life into it. It quoted her blandly saying that ‘like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing’. She also apologised for ‘any confusion the family photograph caused’. And that was all. There was no explanation as to why she wanted to alter the picture or what it was she hoped to modify. What was the touching up all about?
The rumormill: A widely seen TikTok video suggested that the picture was taken last November and the clothing of the children and the Princess were changed by ‘Photoshop’ manipulation. Perhaps the biggest mystery of all is the most obvious one — the absence of Kate’s wedding and engagement rings. This must surely have raised alarm bells with the Kensington Palace communications team, which was responsible for distributing the image. The Princess’s sapphire engagement ring was Princess Diana’s and is probably the most famous piece of jewellery in the world. The fact that it wasn’t there was bound to arouse curiosity.
Why is KP making Kate take the fall for everything? Kate’s apology is obviously heartfelt but her explanation is partial. It does seem unfair that the woman whose health and welfare has been at the centre of this baffling episode should be the one saying sorry. It is entirely fitting to ask why the couple’s well-paid communications staff didn’t flag up the discrepancies in the picture before its release. But, then again, perhaps they did. By offering her apology, the Princess appears to be taking full responsibility which, for someone still convalescing from major surgery, does seem grossly unfair.
The Waleses’ biggest flaw: William and Kate are bright, personable and intelligent. They are down to earth and unshowy — the very qualities that have made them the biggest draw of our Royal Family. But it is this desire for ordinariness which conceals one significant flaw: a near obsessive need for secrecy. Neither the reason for Kate’s surgery nor the nature of her complaint has been disclosed. Perhaps in years gone by — before social media — such a position could be sustained, but these days it is virtually impossible.
The Waleses are insular & cut off: The couple have erected a towering wall around their family life which rightly screens them from prying eyes. But at a cost: it has contributed to a sense that they can be insular and rather remote. Similarly, their decision to relocate from London to the middle of Windsor Great Park, while terrific for George, Charlotte and Louis’s schooling, has added to the idea that they are slightly cut off. Never was this more apparent than in William’s decision not to attend ex-King Constantine’s memorial service last month. No explanation has ever been offered, but in an institution like the Royal Family, where presentation is fundamental, it looks like an error. An error compounded by the fiasco over the photograph.
No one believes Will & Kate anymore: Some will dismiss media criticism about the manipulated photograph as a storm in a teacup. But there are precious commodities at stake here: trust and integrity. If pictures can be digitally altered, what else can be twisted? The British public adore the Royal Family but that adoration rests on them being told the truth.
Kay also went off on a tangent, explaining that Will and Kate are so secretive because the Sussexes will “weaponize” anything and everything against the Waleses… which is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard, and I’m embarrassed for Kay that he even halfheartedly attempted that. William and Kate are secretive because they have secrets and because they’re arrogant and ignorant and they don’t want to “serve” in any way. They do not understand public service or the idea that they should be subject to regular accountability, nor do they feel like they need to disclose anything about their lives, their living arrangements, their health or their marriage. Kay knows all of this. And he’s very publicly telling them to get their house in order.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.