Royalty thread #15: A New Era

[canbelto]

I think part of the issue is that Kate is extremely image conscious. Even after she gave birth she wore stilettos on the hospital steps. She might be going through medical problems that make her hesitant about showing her face or body.

I also think social media always needs to find a female royal member to bully. Used to be Fergie, then Camilla, then Meghan, now Kate. It's unfortunate but it's a cycle.

 

[skategal]

Well, if she's dead then who was that woman in the car with William as he left Windsor today?

I'm sure there will be wild body double conspiracies since it's hard to see Kate's face and she was dropped off somewhere along the route from Windsor to Westminster Abbey where William arrived alone for the Commonwealth Service.

Considering it’s a photo of the back of a woman’s head, who knows who it really is?

The photo doesn’t prove much one way or the other.

I’m starting to think KP is enjoying pulling everyone’s leg and this “cat and mouse game” is a deliberate plot to keep everyone’s attention focused on Catherine.

 

[MsZem]

I think part of the issue is that Kate is extremely image conscious. Even after she gave birth she wore stilettos on the hospital steps. She might be going through medical problems that make her hesitant about showing her face or body.

She also wore dresses that made no attempt to minimize her post-birth belly (which, good for her!).

I also think social media always needs to find a female royal member to bully. Used to be Fergie, then Camilla, then Meghan, now Kate. It's unfortunate but it's a cycle.

Indeed - and Kate also experienced some very unpleasant media attention during her royal girlfriend days.

 

[sap5]

Considering it’s a photo of the back of a woman’s head, who knows who it really is?

The photo doesn’t prove much one way or the other.

I’m starting to think KP is enjoying pulling everyone’s leg and this “cat and mouse game” is a deliberate plot to keep everyone’s attention focused on Catherine.

I think KP has done a horrible PR job and if I were Will or Kate, I'd fire the entire PR team.

Submitting an extremely photoshopped pic like this to official news media is a disastrous mistake, and not a joke in the least. Then to throw Kate under the bus by claiming that she is an amateur that just plays around with photoshop? How disrespectful can you get? Do we all really think Kate, who is obsessed with protocol, would send a pic like this to news media? If she did, she is seriously unwell. Since I hope this is not the case, I choose to believe that the PR team is to blame.

 

[puglover]

I think KP has done a horrible PR job and if I were Will or Kate, I'd fire the entire PR team.

Submitting an extremely photoshopped pic like this to official news media is a disastrous mistake, and not a joke in the least. Then to throw Kate under the bus by claiming that she is an amateur that just plays around with photoshop? How disrespectful can you get? Do we all really think Kate, who is obsessed with protocol, would send a pic like this to news media? If she did, she is seriously unwell. Since I hope this is not the case, I choose to believe that the PR team is to blame.

I think there is a lot of truth to your point and the royal correspondents I follow have been expressing frustration about the releases from Kensington Palace for some time. Most of their complaints seem to come due to a lack of coordination between the information from Buckingham Palace (the King and Queen) and Kensington Palace (William and Kate). They claim Buckingham Palace offered to help with planning the Prince and Princesses disastrous trip to Kingston Jamaica as they had more experience and Kensington declined the offer and felt they knew how to handle it. Of course, some of this may be the fairly common issue of a son not wanting to be coached by his dad, feeling he knows better, and learning the hard way.

From a positive viewpoint, the children look genuinely happy, even George, who tends to be more restrained. I find it believable that the photographer is their Dad and that things are okay. Also, I have seen a number of pictures of Pippa on holiday and I doubt she would be straying far from home if Kate was not doing well as they seem very close.

One of my daughters has modelled internationally and I remember looking at her face on the cover of a magazine and recognizing those were not her ears. She has very slightly pointed ears and they switched them out. We really can't believe everything we see.

 

[canbelto]

I think there is a lot of truth to your point and the royal correspondents I follow have been expressing frustration about the releases from Kensington Palace for some time. Most of their complaints seem to come due to a lack of coordination between the information from Buckingham Palace (the King and Queen) and Kensington Palace (William and Kate). They claim Buckingham Palace offered to help with planning the Prince and Princesses disastrous trip to Kingston Jamaica as they had more experience and Kensington declined the offer and felt they knew how to handle it. Of course, some of this may be the fairly common issue of a son not wanting to be coached by his dad, feeling he knows better, and learning the hard way.

From a positive viewpoint, the children look genuinely happy, even George, who tends to be more restrained. I find it believable that the photographer is their Dad and that things are okay. Also, I have seen a number of pictures of Pippa on holiday and I doubt she would be straying far from home if Kate was not doing well as they seem very close.

One of my daughters has modelled internationally and I remember looking at her face on the cover of a magazine and recognizing those were not her ears. She has very slightly pointed ears and they switched them out. We really can't believe everything we see.

Both Will and Harry seem like extremely stubborn people who are loathe to listen to calmer, more experienced voices. They clash because they have so much in common is my pet theory. Both have made missteps in their PR this way.

Also about modeling, it's true. I had a friend who modeled pretty extensively and he looked like a figure on a romance novel cover (in fact he did model for a few book covers). But he had a bunch of stuff retouched because of these "problem points" that I personally couldn't see because he was gorgeous.

 

[Jenny]

Much ado about nothing IMO. It's not a news photo, it's a family portrait. It was issued on social media to celebrate Mother's Day - it's not proof of life.

And photoshopping? Seriously? Like images on social media are always straight from the camera, no filters, no colour correction, no cropping, no smoothing over of flaws?

And portraits are not regularly touched up to enhance the look of the subjects? Flaws in the background are not corrected to keep the focus on the subjects and just to make a nicer looking image?

What's next, criticism that Kate is wearing makeup rather than show her true face? Maybe they should all be naked, just to keep it real.

I think what happened here is they wanted to put our a nice message for Mother's Day, never expecting people to blow it up and pick it apart as evidence of some great big conspiracy. And if the news and photo agencies don't like it, then they shouldn't have lifted it from social media in the first place. My bet is that when people started picking it apart, the news media was embarrassed they didn't see it and had to take to their high horses about it rather than just leave it be.

Hope she managed to have a nice Mother's Day with her family anyway.

 

[Rafter]

Other conspiracy theories out there are that she tried to commit suicide hence why there were the twitter posts on Dec 28 in the evening (UK time) showing a convoy of ambulances leaving Sandringham. I’ve also seen reference to organ transplant. The theories are wild that’s for sure.

https://twitter.com/CarmenGranddau1/status/1747671543797203443?lang=en

 

[skategal]

One I read is that Kate had an affair with Thomas Kingston.

Will lost his mind when he found out and beat her up requiring surgery.

Then Thomas Kingston died by suicide.

No I don’t believe it.

I wouldn’t be surprised if there were marriage issues though considering how many people go through that.

It also wouldn’t surprise me if Charles is much sicker than we know and the Kate situation is being used as a distraction from that.

 

[puglover]

Diana (in her day) and Catherine and Meghan are all exceptionally attractive, photogenic women and their images sell magazines and are total clickbait. Build them up - tear them down - what matters is an excuse to run their picture. Somewhat sad that Sarah Ferguson was called "The Princess of Pork" during the time she was having her babies and always compared negatively to the very slim Diana. We now know that both women had disordered eating from their teens and that it just was manifest differently. I read that Sarah, years later, met the author of the P of P and was astounded to realize he was a short, bald, rotund little man who printed it as a "joke" and it was picked up by the international press. She speaks of the immense number of tears she cried over that little "joke".

I have recently seen photos of Princess Charlotte - not yet 9 - with makeup. The idea seems to be to give us a glimpse of her potential beauty. They say she is worth an estimated 3 billion dollars to the UK economy. I hope, probably in vein, that they let her grow up first.

 

[MacMadame]

I'm sure there will be wild body double conspiracies since it's hard to see Kate's face and she was dropped off somewhere along the route from Windsor to Westminster Abbey where William arrived alone for the Commonwealth Service.

It's the Kate Robot!!! Why does no one believe me?!!

 

[Coco]

I love conspiracy theories, but all the known facts here point to some kind of diverticulitis or IBD attack in December, then major surgery involving the intestines, with possible complications. That's a really plausible scenario. It would also explain the lack of information since who wants to publicize having a colostomy?

What is strange is her lack of posting on social media platforms. This isn't 1980, when a four month recovery would mean being out of sight for four months. But maybe she needed or wanted a complete break? If so, good for her.

It's really not her style, though, to be so 'off' at touching up a photo But again, if she's not well, that would explain being off her game.

Whatever is going on, it is serious and I hope she's getting what she needs.

 

[canbelto]

The other rumor floating around Twitter is that she wants a divorce from Will and he's locking her in the dungeon until she withdraws her divorce demand. OR likewise that she wants a divorce and refuses to smile and wave to the public.

 

[Tesla]

It's the Kate Robot!!! Why does no one believe me?!!

She's a Stepford wife!

 

[Barbara Manatee]

I don't understand the absolute thirst to see marriages break up - Harry and Meghan, William and Kate, any number of celebrity couples. It's creepy.

 

[canbelto]

Fwiw I thought the Christmas photo was weird. Such a departure from their usual family photos. And it looked like it was taken at a mall in the 1980s.

 

[taf2002]

When I see a photo of a public person I rarely notice photoshopped details. So the only thing I saw was George's right hand which looked much smaller than his left. No one has mentioned that. Maybe it's just me.

 

[Parsley Sage]

Charlotte's skirt has pockets so that's causing the straight line of fabric in the area of her right hip.

God forbid a female have clothing with pockets....

 

[canbelto]

I think KP needs to turn off the comments on their IG posts. They've gotten very off the rails.

 

[once_upon]

Personally, I think Kate should tell people, news media, parents in law and William to STFU and I will tell you IF I tell you when I'm good and ready. Otherwise STFU.

 

[Sparks]

What if she is being over managed by the palace? They're not doing her any favors.

 

[puglover]

I know nothing about editing photos but it is quite uncommon to get one shot that is fantastic of 4 people, especially children. Invariably someone has their eyes closed or something. I wonder if the misalignment of hands, etc. is due to inexpertly combining several shots with the intent of everyone looking their best.

Prince Harry and especially Meghan ever wanting to go back to GB in any official capacity seems doubtful to me. I just recently realized the little boy that is pictured often in relation to news about Archie, although not identified as him, is actually an old shot of James, Prince Edward's son.

They said it was abdominal surgery, not emergency, not for cancer, but serious enough to require a longer time in hospital and recuperation at home. They also said they were not going to be giving updates unless there was significant new information. Most of us would not want our private medical information out there for all to read unless we choose to share it.

 

[sap5]

Looks like this isn’t the first time Kate has been caught photoshopping.

 

[Coco]

Perhaps it's a plot to shake people's faith in the news

 

[canbelto]

I kind of just wonder why it's always a female member of the BRF that gets bullied. I took a little dive into some of the SM comments about Kate this afternoon and it had so much of the same body shaming that they did to Fergie, Camilla, and Meghan (when Meghan was pregnant).

 

[Barbara Manatee]

Perhaps it’s because women in general are more likely to be bullied or harassed.

People are saying incredibly vile things about William as well, though.

 

[ballettmaus]

Perhaps it’s because women in general are more likely to be bullied or harassed.

This likely has something to do with it. Also, the women are the "outsiders".

 

[allezfred]

Personally, I think Kate should tell people, news media, parents in law and William to STFU and I will tell you IF I tell you when I'm good and ready. Otherwise STFU.

If I went on sick leave, I would have to produce a doctor’s note for my employer explaining exactly what my illness is and when I will expect to be back at work. I don’t think my employer would be impressed with me telling them to STFU and mind their own business. The British taxpayers are funding the royal family’s lifestyle at a time when there is a huge cost of living crisis. They have a right to know and the royal family has a duty to let them know.

This has been handled in an incredibly inept and arrogant way by the palace. They have added to the speculation by not being forthright from the start.

And I am incredulous that their press office is letting members of the royal household edit their own photos and distributing those same photos to the press.

 

[ballettmaus]

If I went on sick leave, I would have to produce a doctor’s note for my employer explaining exactly what my illness is

How is that any of your employer's business? Is there no doctor-patient confidentiality in Ireland?

 

[airgelaal]

If I went on sick leave, I would have to produce a doctor’s note for my employer explaining exactly what my illness is and when I will expect to be back at work. I don’t think my employer would be impressed with me telling them to STFU and mind their own business.

In Ukraine, it is prohibited to indicate an illness on a sick leave certificate without the written consent of the patient. Employers don't always like it, but the law is the law