The British royal family is famous for its carefully curated media image. That’s why it was a surprise to see them lose control of the narrative in the wake of what we now know is a serious health crisis befalling Catherine, Princess of Wales (or Kate Middleton, as she’s popularly known).It is clear that the nearly 1,000-year-old institution of the monarchy and its tradition of “never complain, never explain” are being tested by social media and its power to spread rumours and misinformation. The palace’s public relations team has underestimated how difficult it is to manage relationships with social media audiences. Their reactive attempts to rein in speculation has turned Catherine’s health challenge into a PR disaster.Social media, with its lax regulations and freer environment, offers a more open forum for users to say whatever they like about the royals. It’s served as a hotbed for Catherine conspiracies, particularly on TikTok. These theories are as wild as they are ridiculous, from Catherine being a prisoner in the palace to her hiding in Taylor Swift’s London home.What should have been a simple announcement to a sympathetic public about a popular royal having cancer turned into a spider’s web of competing conspiracy theories across social media. How did it all go so terribly wrong?I’ve lost track, what happened?All was well with the Prince and Princess of Wales when they were filmed attending church on Christmas Day. As usual when royals are out in public, the scene was picture perfect, with everyone dutifully smiling for the cameras in “coordinated” outfits.Two weeks later, Kensington Palace announced Catherine had undergone planned abdominal surgery, with palace sources telling media the surgery had been “successful” and she would need two weeks to recover.On January 29, the palace announced that Catherine had returned home to recuperate. Unlike King Charles, when he released news of his cancer diagnosis on February 5, Catherine was not photographed leaving the hospital. This was the first PR misstep. She had appeared outside the hospital soon after giving birth to her three children, but this time she remained uncharacteristically out of the public eye.Almost a month later, when Prince William unexpectedly withdrew from his godfather’s memorial, citing “personal reasons,” social media users started asking, “Where is Princess Kate?”Used to a steady stream of content about the royal family, the public were unsurprisingly questioning if there was more to Catherine’s abdominal surgery than they were being told.In a rare reactive move, the palace tried to quell questions about Catherine’s whereabouts by releasing a statement reiterating that she would not be returning to public duties until Easter.On March 4, US outlet TMZ published a paparazzi photo of Catherine driving with her mother. Social media audiences asked if it really was Catherine.Over the next week, conspiracy theories about Catherine’s absence reached frenzied levels. To show everything was fine, Kensington Palace released a Mother’s Day photo of Catherine and her children on their social media accounts. Social media users spotted apparently edited flaws and global news agencies announced “kill orders,” saying the image had been manipulated. The next day, Catherine apologised on social media for editing the photo.Although royals have been editing their pictures for centuries, it seems particularly digitally naive of the palace’s PR team to release such an obviously edited image into an already cynical social media environment, creating fodder for more conspiracy theories.Mainstream news outlets then joined social media users in asking questions about Catherine’s absence. Although this media attention did not legitimise wild conspiracies, in some ways it fuelled them.Days later, TMZ published footage of Catherine and William shopping. At this point in the media chaos, many social media users claimed it was fake.This intense public speculation finally ended on March 23, when Catherine released a video explaining that her extended absence after abdominal surgery was caused by the surgeons discovering cancer.During a crisis, the public craves transparency, authenticity, honesty and reassurance. These elements were missing in the royal PR team’s carefully worded statements made directly to mainstream media, along with reactive, overly curated social media posts.By providing scant details, the palace seemed to believe they could control public perception. But public image is increasingly difficult to control.
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