Have any of you stopped for a moment and considered just how many lies Prince William has told since this weekend? The insistence that William took the Mother’s Day photo, the insistence that Kate was the one who edited it, the forging of Kate’s apology and “C” signature, and the subsequent tossing-under-the-bus. It’s just lie on top of lie on top of lie. William is in so deep, he won’t even release the “original” photo of Kate and the children. The royal reporters know William and his staff are lying to them, but all they can do is give “commentary” about Huevo’s bad management style and repeat every single conspiracy on the internet. You can see the Mail’s full piece here, where they’ve screencapped so many conspiracy tweets (so helpful!), all while calling in the experts:
Kate Middleton released her edited Mother’s Day family portrait having ‘bowed to pressure’ from internet ghouls pumping out wild conspiracy theories about her health because of a lack of support from aides, royal experts said today. Buckingham Palace has been accused of handling the scandal ‘appallingly’ and failing to protect the Princess of Wales as she recovers from major surgery. Critics believe her PR team was ‘asleep at the wheel’ and this has led to extraordinary and groundless conspiracy theories ramping up about Kate, her health and whereabouts.
Royal commentator Phil Dampier told MailOnline today that the chaos of the last few weeks has meant conspiracy theories about Kate are now out of control. He said: ‘Sadly Kate’s mistake in altering William’s picture has given conspiracy theorists a field day. Instead of closing down speculation about her health it has boosted it tenfold. People think if they can’t trust the royals to release a simple family photo then what else are they hiding? I know of no evidence that Kate’s absence from royal duties is anything other than she is recovering from her surgery. But that won’t stop the wild rumours online, which can’t be controlled’.
Mr Dampier criticized William’s absence from King Constantine’s memorial: ‘William did not help. He said it was a “Personal matter” but it’s hard to believe he couldn’t spare the time to go to Windsor Castle for a couple of hours when he lives nearby. It all adds to a sense of mystery and at the moment honesty would probably be the best policy to quell the rumour mill’.
Royal biographer Tom Bower slammed Palace aides for the chaos of the last 48 hours. He said of Kate today: ‘She’s very ill, she’s had a very serious operation and the Palace handled it appallingly. When they said she would not be seen until after Easter – they should have said firmly, and regularly, “we’re not telling you any more”,’ he said, adding: ‘Unfortunately [she] bowed to the pressure of social media ghouls and troublemakers and speculators’ by releasing a photo on Mother’s Day. Instead of being protected by the Palace and her husband and told “Just sit back and don’t worry”, she thought she’d do the best thing possible and release a lovely photograph’.
Former BBC royal correspondent Michael Cole told MailOnline that the blame lies squarely with aides to the Prince and Princess of Wales. He said: ‘This is the greatest failure in communication by the Royal Family I have ever witnessed. It has shaken one of immutable pillars of British life, the monarchy itself. Make no mistake this is a Grade “A” failure of public relations by the Palaces. How could these “professionals” have permitted this crucial image to have been distributed without subjecting it to the most the most detailed scrutiny, knowing that it would be probed intensively by journalists and royal fans worldwide for hidden meanings or clues as to the Princess’s state of health. I can only conclude that they were asleep at the wheel’.
While I don’t doubt that there are some incredibly sinister things taking place, you also have to remember that garden-variety incompetence always plays a role whenever we’re discussing William, Kate and their staff. Every single part of this has been mismanaged, from the announcement about Kate’s surgery up until this week’s catastrophe. It’s been lie on top of lie, incompetence on top of incompetence, unprofessionalism on top of unprofessionalism. It’s been amazing to watch, honestly. William is a one-man wrecking ball to the monarchy and he’s not even doing it on purpose. He thinks he’s killing it, that he’s making great and reasonable decisions, that he’s protecting himself. That’s how stupid he is.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.