Dark side of Princess Kate’s comeback

After the Princess of Wales’ return to public view recently a new and toxic theory is taking over social media about her condition.

If ever there was a moment you might wish you owned a hazmat suit, this is it. Or at least some of those extra long gloves that you see country vets because today’s dispatch from the frontlines of the royal world is nothing short of truly gross.

A new, revolting theory about Kate, the Princess of Wales’ six month absence from public life is spreading across X, formerly Twitter, in an instance of heinous social media contagion.

Consider yourself warned.

Kate, a slew of accounts are alleging, is not currently battling cancer and undergoing chemotherapy but has actually been making that all up to cover up the fact that she has had a facelift. The ‘proof’, it is argued, is how relatively well the princess appeared at last weekend’s Trooping the Colour, her first official engagement of the year after revealing her shocking diagnosis in March.

Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, in “before” and “after” photos. Picture: Getty

Images of the smiling princess, be-hatted and be-frocked, showing no obvious signs of hair loss, and looking similar to the last time she stepped out in public on royal manoeuvres in December last year are being interpreted as ‘evidence’ that the 42-year-old is, in fact, fine and something nefarious has been going on.

Look, I’m not going to waste the seconds required to furiously type away at my keyboard about why this is nothing short of sickening.

However, what makes this latest situation much harder to ignore is the fact that many of the accounts posting these claims are supporters of Prince Harry and Meghan - two people who have made combating online hate and countering disinformation central to their charity work.

In 2020 the duke penned an essay for Fast Company, writing: “The digital landscape is unwell” and said that online platforms had contributed to “a crisis of hate, a crisis of health, and a crisis of truth.”

In a 2021 interview with the same publication on the issue he said that “time is running out…We are losing loved ones to conspiracy theories” and that “the magnitude of this cannot be overstated”.

The same year he was appointed to the Aspen Institute’s Commission on Information Disorder.

Catherine, Princess of Wales, looked stunning alongside Princess Charlotte of Wales on June 15, 2024 in London, England. Picture: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Last October, the Sussexes’ Archewell Foundation hosted a summit for parents about “Mental Wellness in a Digital Age” and they currently list “Supporting families…to safeguard against online harms” as one the Foundation’s key areas of current work.

The charitable outfit is also a founding member of The Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund which supports young people who are “stewarding a tech ecosystem which safeguards human rights.”

All of this work being is hugely important and should be applauded - but is patently not compatible with what is being done by some of their supporters online.

Some of the accounts that have posted these new Kate theories include @sussexloyal, another account that claims to be a “Sussex Squad VIP member” and one that promises to “reciprocate all #SussexSquad follows”

What makes this so sticky for Harry and Meghan in all of this is the extent to which they have nailed their colours to the compassion mast. They have positioned themselves as standing for kindness in the swirling cesspool that is all too often the digital highways and byways and worked to establish themselves as leaders in the righteous fight against the more toxic nether regions of the web.

This is one of those situations where there are no good or easy solutions.

Harry and Meghan, let me stress here, are not responsible for what their fandom might do or say online, any more than the Prince and Princess of Wales are responsible for what fans might do or say online. Both the online Wales and Sussex armies here have attracted online rabid supporters who often battle it out online, including posting unbelievably malicious and false claims.

Princess Kate in November last year. Picture: Toby Melville/AFP

(Let it be noted here that the prince and princess have, at times, spoken out about childhood bullying and yet have never addressed the vile and spurious claims about the former Suits star made by pro-Wales social media users.)

There is a definite and strong case to be made that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex should not engage with the sickening Kate claims being made by those who purport to back them. If they directly refuted this latest madness, it would only give these loony theories oxygen and publicity. Starving the crazy or at least denying them any crumb of worthiness of attention makes perfect sense.

This situation comes after what has already been a bruising year for Harry on the charity front. Employees of one of the charities the duke has closely aligned himself with been hit with repeated allegations of human rights abuses including rape, torture and extra-judicial killings in the multiple African nations.

In 2017 the duke joined the African Parks (AP) conservation charity as their president and served in the role until last year when he was ‘elevated,’ according to the Times, to the board.

Starting in late January this year, the Daily Mail has published a series of lengthy pieces detailing horrific allegations against AP guards in Republic of Congo and Zambia.

A Photoshopped image of Kate Middleton the Princess of Wales, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis that was released on UK Mother's Day 2024. Picture: Kensington Palace/Instagram

In February, a former AP executive backed calls for the duke to stand down saying, “Yes, there is a role for celebrities as patrons or ambassadors, but not on a governing board.

“Harry has neither the tools nor experience to navigate his way through such crises.”

Earlier this month, the Mail also reported that, in Malawi, nine people had been killed since 2022 by elephants relocated by AP, leaving 41 children as orphans.

Prior to the AP allegations, there had been reports suggesting that Harry might make a documentary for Netflix about Africa. In light of this ongoing controversy, it’s hard to see how he could pursue this now.

So, in conclusion, it’s a mess. The Sussexes chose two issues — online hate and African conservation — as tent pole causes and which should have translated to universal approval and applause and which instead have, through no fault of their own, landed them in it.

Daniela Elser is a writer, editor and a royal commentator with more than 15 years’ experience working with a number of Australia’s leading media titles.

Originally published as Dark side of Princess Kate’s comeback