Kate Middleton certainly did not plan it, but she dominated the news this year.
However, according to The Daily Mail, some high-ranking staff members have decided to take her down a peg.
A few hours apart, Princess Kate and King Charles III announced in January that they were both undergoing surgeries.
The operations, in a bizarre twist, led to cancer discoveries for the royals. King Charles was seen and given regular updates on his health.
There was a massive cloud of secrecy around Kate Middleton. Prince William was doing his best to protect his wife’s right to have her private health record sealed.
The future Queen of England was not seen or heard from for months. Her absence led to unfounded speculations about her well-being, including suggestions of her disappearance, potential divorce, or even being in a coma.
This unwarranted speculation only served to increase the pressure on Middleton during her recovery. The longer Middleton stayed quiet, the louder and wilder the theories grew.
According to royal author Robert Hardman promoting his new book Charles III: New King, New Court, The Inside Story, Catherine, Princess of Wales, her husband felt it was best to stay silent, carry on with her chemotherapy, and avoid all stress.
He wrote in The Daily Mail: “In spite of the increasingly deranged speculation about the Princess’s whereabouts, the Waleses were sticking to their original strategy. The Prince continued to go about his official engagements while the Princess recovered in private.”
According to a senior aide to King Charles, there was no urgent need for the media to be briefed about Kate Middleton’s whereabouts and condition because she is less important than the royal members in the line of succession.
The staff member downgraded Princess Kate by explaining to the media outlet:”No constitutional responsibility sits on The Princess of Wales and never will. She is not in the line of succession. She plays an absolutely vital supporting role to The Prince of Wales and in bringing up their children who are in the line of succession. But she herself is not. Her situation is different, and it can be treated differently.”
The leak is a disservice to Princess Kate and the monarchy. Through scandal, drama, dangerous accusations from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, painful cheating rumors, and serious health issues — Kate Middleton has been resilient for more than two decades.
She has managed to keep her head down and do the work of the old institution, earning her supporters’s admiration.
Diminishing her impact and her legacy seems unnecessary.
