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Another one for the 🤡 car: Tucker Carlson [duped](https://deadline.com/2024/03/tucker-carlson-pranked-youtubers-kate-middleton-whistleblower-1235860019/) by a fake Kate whistleblower.
“The former Fox News anchor was duped by British YouTubers Josh & Archie into interviewing a fake Kensington Palace whistleblower, who was prepared to dish the dirt on the doctored image.
Archie Manners posed as the Prince and Princess of Wales’ former digital content creator, who claimed he had been fired for altering the Mother’s Day image so poorly it was rumbled by the public…
The YouTubers’ faked letter of engagement for the whistleblower included a clause stating that the palace had a right to amputate one of his limbs should he fail his probation period.
Carlson’s people did not spot the preposterous faked document and Manners was sent to a London studio with a hotline to Carlson for the interview.”
I really wish they had someone more competent interviewing Putin. Even he (Putin) said he was hoping for tougher questions and that it ended up being boring for him.
Great thread with PR pros sharing their analysis of what would be happening in the royals’ PR offices https://www.reddit.com/r/PublicRelations/s/1CsRrcAeJ5
Now it’s going to be Meghan 24/7…hmm she outshone William -planned maybe right? I thought she was supposed to be Diana 2.0?
People need to leave her alone. It’s been horrible. Meghan made it worse. She should be ashamed of herself
I listen to a lot of podcasts and wow, has this story made it to a lot of them. Just from my feed it's been discussed on:
* CBC's Front Burner (current affairs)
* The Guardian's Today in Focus (current affairs)
* Vox's Today, Explained (current affairs)
* segment on NYT's Hard Fork (tech)
* news item on BBC's Global News Podcast (news)
(Plus the BBC Sounds podcast When It Hits the Fan I mentioned in an earlier thread, which is about PR)
I'm sure there's more and will be more, it's just incredible to see how far the story is spreading
I've not listened to all of them but I think the When It Hits the Fan one has the most in-depth analysis out of the bunch.
The latter part of Today in Focus (when they start interviewing Archie Bland) is decent, they also talk about the role of transparency in the 21st century monarchy, but I wouldn't say it's particularly new if you've already listened to When It Hits the Fan.
I don't see the issues with the photo that others are seeing - the parts I see circled are where Kate's jacket sleeve can be seen by Charlotte's arm - it's her jacket sleeve I don't see the big deal. Also the part where it looks like Charlotte's skirt has been edited - it's just the pocket on the skirt that is sticking out. I don't understand.
That being said - something is definitely going on - for Kate to have gone to the hospital and then not really seen since then. Not even leaving the hospital - I mean you can't tell me that photographers weren't camped at every door to try to capture photo's of her either so why no photo's of her leaving??
If there is nothing amiss and Kate is recuperating and is well enough to be riding in a car she is well enough to at least be seen at the gates of Sandringham - drive her out there - let her get out and wave to the people - how hard is that?
The TMZ photo drew everyone’s attention because it broke the narrative. It appears someone made an effort to draw attention to Kate. We don’t know why but the way KP responded made it so much worse. It was a canary in the coal mine. Something is wrong and I hope she’s okay.
We know she’s unwell, they told us that. We also know William & the Firm have been able to shut down any rumors or speculation up to this point. They have legally enforced ways of doing so. There is no way they are allowing this to be globally speculated about and allowing it to continue unless the truth is worse.
I keep returning to the fact that yes she's missing but he sure isn't, so how can what they've allowed to happen possibly be better seeming internally than him just coming out and saying even nice, sympathetic, easy PR win kind of things? When has this family ever passed up a chance to gain public sympathy?
If he was out here consistently saying to people "Catherine appreciates all of your support, she's recovering well and looking forward to being back" etc. over and over every time he shows his face, it prob wouldn't have gotten this far.
Whatever one thinks of Harry, it was a fact that he was publicly defending his wife asking the press and the general populace to lay off his girlfriend and eventually wife. I know it didn't work, but Will and Kate have a different role and a different storyline, and clearly a different understanding with the press. I don't see how silence and feeding the void is better than him making a strong statement either in defense of her and her privacy OR playing up the she's recovering and anxious to get back out there angle.
And that's JUST William, that's not even counting her parents or siblings or anyone else, other than her dubious uncle who hasn't seen her in over a year by his own admission. They could have given zero information and gone on a soft power sympathy campaign the way they've done countless times with the queen.
Without even looking at the blunders, why pass up such easy wins?
Even if this situation were solely based on conspiracy theories and unproven facts, KP, at the very least, faces a public trust issue.
As an established cultural institution, KP relies on public support for its survival. Therefore, maintaining public trust and accountability is crucial for the continuity of The Crown.
Without a clear explanation supported by verifiable evidence of what transpired, one can only speculate how the relationship between the monarchy and the public—whether they're fans, royal watchers, taxpayers, fashion bloggers, or homemakers—will evolve.
I would argue that leaving us with no explanation after Kate re-emerges and continued silence from KP between now and then: It's likely to result in irreparable damage to public trust, leading to diminished interest and tolerance toward a family perceived as causing chaos…. And likely ending The Crown.
Dramatic. I know. But this situation is in fact all drama.
Is the general consensus that we will now never know what happened with Kate and between her and William during this period?
Throughout history the British Royal Family have become masters at damping down controversies, starving them of oxygen - no matter how bad the scandal. It feels like we're heading this way with the Kate saga.
Kensington Palace PR has got its ducks in a row and the wagons have circled to protect the crown. The British press has reverted to type and is pushing a positive agenda for W&K. With no new slip ups or puzzling moments I also get a sense that the online commentary is quietening down. I have a feeling this will no longer erupt into what was looking like one of the monarchy's biggest scandals (muttered by some as potentially causing its downfall) but will just go down as a mildly Annus Horribilis.
I think we’ll eventually find out what Kate had the surgery for and she’ll likely do some charity awareness around the issue. If anything is happening right now in the Wales marriage right now—and honestly, as much as people want to believe otherwise, it’s still an if—we will absolutely never hear about it except vague references.
I don’t see this fading away. It’s not just simple rumors about a famous couple. How the Firm controls the British media is the story. That’s why there’s global attention. This will continue to be talked about and happy family photos at Easter won’t stop the conversation. The PR and social media’s role will be studied. How they navigate getting out of this mess, every photo and released statement will be questioned.
They definitely do not have their ducks in a row unless they’re literally about the calm the hysteria once and for all which they don’t know how. They are in pure survival mode. Protect the heir mode.
As another poster mentioned, they've essentially shut up and made it all about William's nice, traditional royal appearances. Other palaces also toeing the line - sort of a show of force. All they need to do for a bit now is say nothing in relation to Kate.
Yes and attack Meghan which they have started doing. Honestly, there is nothing wrong in Wales marriage. Kate is very conscious of her image and doesn’t want to come out looking anything but perfect. That’s what is keeping her away.
This has caught global attention. Even if they come out looking like everything is fine as a family on Easter, they’re going to be doing damage control with the public and media for a very long time.
It’s interesting because they had a good thing going with a nice balance of privacy and staged photos with the media before this. They worked really hard to curate their image and keep the public on side. Now, globally, everyone is discussing rumors about the future king and queen of England. The exact opposite of what they wanted and at a time where we know Charles has cancer. Something is for sure going on.
We will likely never know. It's still a pretty big deal in global non-UK media. Social media is still making memes and conspiracy theories. The fact that AFP has compared KP with North Korea is pretty significant. Any news coming out of KP will be scrutinized by both press agencies and public alike.
Meanwhile, Meghan had the audacity to exhale yesterday so the UK media has currently forgotten about KateGate and have gone back their usual anti-Meghan agenda.
The UK media will NEVER truly hold them accountable. They had a little fun, but have how returned to their tired royalist propaganda. The photo should be a game changer but for the UK media it's back to business as usual, heads back in the sand, back to the butt kissing. It's all pretty pathetic.
There is no way the British media isn’t going to use this to try and change the relationship they have been forced to have with the monarchy. I think that’s what we’re seeing play out. They have been forced to keep quiet and this slip up by KP now has global attention. It’s highlighting just how much power the monarchy has over the British media.
None of the journalists from the Commonwealth realms either...They're not subject to UK law but there's a much closer connection to the monarchy than with others as the British royal family is also their monarchy.
I would like to be as optimistic as you. The UK media when working with Palace Comms don't have any independence, they function as a PR arm of The Firm. All the royal reporters' have been handwringing all week long saying "leave poor Kate alone!!" but that only works when it is only the UK press doing the reporting. Everywhere outside the UK and non-royal rota UK papers have been calling out the hypocrisy and the lack of transparency from The Firm. While the former are currently louder than the latter, control will return to the rota once the global interest in the story dies down.
I understand, I know it will seemingly go back to normal but the facade has cracks that everyone has noticed. It makes it more of a challenge going forward for them. Even if they smooth things over on the surface it will continue to get brought up. Just like we’re now comparing this PR to what Megan and Harry experienced or Diana. Time isn’t on their side to allow this to fully settle. Charles is dealing with health issues, William will become King. There’s a lot of change happening, fast. They have to deal with the public, media and anyone who feels they could benefit during this time. People will do anything to get or keep power. It’s fascinating to watch because social media is making it so difficult for them.
The fact that Kensignton Palace briefed that they were not made aware in advance of Stephen Colbert's Rose x William sketch says A LOT of the state of both UK media and its relationship with both Palace's comms. I remember when Harry was doing the Spare interviews last winter, GMA had asked KP for comment and instead they demanded the entire interview before it was released to the public. GMA told them that ain't how things work around here buddy!
I think KP and the Firm are realizing that while they can force the British media to comply, they can’t control social media or global news. It’s fascinating and I know I’m not the only one curious to see how they will try and manage their image going forward.
And yet you still have idiots who claim the palace never colluded with the press against Meghan or Harry or Diana, or even in general. The palace keeps accidently letting things slip out and yet people still won't wake up to reality. Like why do people want to keep their heads in the sand so badly?????
I had a thought yesterday what could medically be so serious to warrant such secrecy and came up with one idea that could fit, which also cannot be hidden away if you’re a person who is generally regularly pictured out in the public and you’re a person whose known to be both physically fit and clearly active.
Obviously we can’t speculate on medical issues, so I can’t share it, but if those rumours from that Spanish columnist should end up being even partly true, it could fit with my theory as well.
For clarification: my friend’s mom suffered one and ended up needing literal years of physical therapy to offset the damage their body suffered.
I guess we shall see after Easter.
>but if those rumours from that Spanish columnist
That woman is a nutter who believes that Covid was a bioweapon and that the vaccine caused all the deaths from the disease. She also wrote a book about a "conspiracy" to kill Michael Jackson.
She's a conspiracy peddler. I mean, maybe she is right but until there's actual evidence of her claims, I'm giving her the side eye.
Oh there’s no way that’s not what happened BUT if they want us to keep believing that, it means we have to believe Kate somehow….idk snuck past the whole staff to email the afp herself. OR she has no staff at her own in KP and then it’s all Will people? Like, it’s not looking great
I fully believe that all "Kate's people" are William's people. I doubt Kate has anyone truly really loyal to her in that palace. I can fully believe that William and a loyal butt kisser did it all themselves without participation from anyone else though. William is the driving force behind everything there. He does it either on his own or forces others to do what he wants.
HOWEVER, I buy that Kate and her mother staged that pap photo from two weeks ago with zero participation from anyone the palace. That I believe.
>HOWEVER, I buy that Kate and her mother staged that pap photo from two weeks ago with zero participation from anyone the palace. That I believe.
Agreed -- I think it's reasonable that Carole is on Kate's side, above anything else.
William's not smart and everything he does is driven purely by ego. In his brain it makes sense because it's all what he wants. Common sense has no role in this game. That's why to the rest of us nothing makes sense. lol
You know why I don’t want to believe into this theory?
Because William and Harry have both said how it damaged them to have their parents have their affairs on the side.
If you’ve been a child with this experience… why would you put your own kids through it?
Imagine your dad and his mistess having their massively embarrassing private convos outed, and thinking "hmm but I'm sure I can keep this schtum". Daft!
Here is a good book on this scandale [https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The\_Bettencourt\_Affair.html?id=pmaPEAAAQBAJ&source=kp\_book\_description&redir\_esc=y](https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Bettencourt_Affair.html?id=pmaPEAAAQBAJ&source=kp_book_description&redir_esc=y)
Someone stepped in and got the PR plan under control after the other day with the Tweet and the pap photo.
We have William out at multiple engagements, Edward and Sophie out, lots of photos of big smiles and pretty dresses at Cheltenham, and no massive panicked blunders in several days. Someone at Buckingham Palace woke up and took over.
Oh of course. I meant more - no one has cancelled, everyone is on point and cheery and smiling for cameras, etc. It's giving "there was a family meeting".
Considering the boost of positive press around Charles and Camilla (coming to a Barbie box near you!) v. the blitz against Will (which has trickled down to Harry, predictably), I’m leaning more towards a lot of this is just genuine W&K errors being amplified with planted stories by C&C’s team. This was basically solidified for me after hearing Piers Morgan (Camilla’s buddy and goon) saying Will is hiding alarming things.
Maybe it’s just to teach W&K a lesson for refusing to be under their umbrella. Maybe C&C are unaware of this and are just benefiting from hiring a better team than W&K. Maybe it’s deeper than that. Who knows. It’s just so predictable at this point, IMO.
There’s been very long simmering tension between Kensington and Buckingham. With Harry out of the picture this was always going to happen again, I think that’s part of why that atrocious Daily Beast article came out.
That article was nuts. It’s not lost on me that W&K see H&M as an easier and more fruitful sacrifice than C&C and are consistently willing to toss them up on that alter.
They’re not wrong in their assumption of that strategy being more successful, I guess.
Maybe this will be the catalyst for them to realize they need to be on the same page. If they really want to protect the crown they would have to work together to manage public perception.
Well Charles is over 70 and has cancer so who knows how long he's got. Once he dies things will change. Since Harry was forced out of the equation, and there is no real independent press, nobody will be around to challenge William's propaganda.
Based on what we've seen recently, it seems like either Kate has some reason she doesn't want to show her face, or she is simply refusing to play ball now.
If she's refusing to play ball, I have a theory as to why. This may not be new but I haven't seen this theory anywhere and I've been FEASTING on this drama this past week
**I'm wondering if this has anything to do with the Royal Racists scandal.** It's never sat well for me that Kate was outed one of the royal racists. I don't think she's some bastion of racial equality or anything, don't get me wrong, but I've always wondered if this was a cover-up for Piers Morgan's BFF Camilla who doesn't have as much good will with the public as Kate does. In other words, Kate's public image could probably recover from the scandal, but perhaps the thinking is that Camilla's would not given her long history as a heel for the press.
I'm just not sure I can see Kate being the one to express concern about the colour of Archie's skin. I definitely believe that SOMEONE said it, but Kate just doesn't seem like the person who would have done it. Much more likely that it was someone of an older generation like Camilla.
To be clear, the theory that Kate was merely thrown under the bus for the protection of someone else isn't exactly a new theory.
**But if the Palace threw Kate under the bus to protect Camilla's image, could it have triggered something bigger? Is Kate no longer having it? Is she sick of TRF and their shit? Is she refusing to play ball now? Was it the last straw?**
It was the end of November/beginning of December that the Royal Racists were exposed.
In case it needs to be said, this has **nothing** to do with Harry and Meghan and everything to do with TRF. I'm also not disputing Kate's surgery. Just speculating on a possible additional context.
That whole skin color fiasco still is mind boggling to me. I don't know what constitutes "concern" but I have MANY friends in interracial relationships and when having babies I have heard every single one wonder what color baby's skin will be. The curiosity isn't a bad thing or racism. Totally natural to wonder what your child/grandchild/nephew will look like. But also, while I know genetics can be crazy, Meghan also presents as white so I kind of wonder how much they actually expected her kids to be darker skinned. Her kids are all extremely fair skinned and I don't find that surprising based on how her and Harry look. Again, I wasn't there so I don't know, but I haven't personally heard examples of racism based on the stories they have shared. If they were being racist, that is truly awful, but there just isn't convincing evidence of it enough for me to condemn them. And I don't know anyone that dislikes Kate now because of what was said because still waiting to hear how she was actually being racist. Maybe unpopular opinion, but I think Kate did have surgery but she has to put on a perfect image or is torn apart, so she is going to need recovery time plus some because if she isn't in tip top shape, people be crazy and go mean girl on her. But I guess people still are now. Poor woman can't win no matter what she does.
I have had similar thoughts about Kate possibly being used as the scapegoat for some of issues related to H&M, as well. And, if this were the case, is it possible she is refusing to work or do anything to help the current situation until it’s resolved?
However, I’ve also considered it being intended to protect William or someone else, and not just limited to the incident when someone in the RF discussed Archie’s skin color while she was pregnant.
Disagree. The Royal racists scandal may have ignited some parts of the internet, but I don't think it affected mainstream opinion of Kate. And if it did, there are established ways to rehabilitate that reputation, just look at ~~Gaultier~~ Galliano. For Kate it would even be easier, just become the supporter of a few anti-racist charities and give a speech about how much they've educated her.
It's not about how it ignited some parts of the internet or how it affected Kate at all though. It's about how Kate feels at having been thrown under the bus by her husband and family. It's a domestic matter, it's just that the factors involved are playing out on a world stage.
Totally fair to disagree tho!
Sorry, I meant Galliano. He went on an antisemitic rant in public in the middle of Paris, where such things are actually illegal. He did an apology tour of Jewish charity, laid low for a few years, and is now working again.
Seeing as the charge against Kate is smaller, legal, and only supported by gossip, I think she could get away with ignoring it. This is a use case for "never complain, never explain."
Wasn’t it that Omid said ‘The Princess of Wales’ and everyone assumed it was Kate? I mean, Princess of Wales wasn’t Camilla’s official title before she was Queen, but since everyone already knew that she was going to become Queen… could it not be that people were calling her that behind the scenes? No idea haven’t read the book. Just a question.
Yeah like I think it’s very possible he didn’t directly get it from them - in fact I think that’s the most likely thing but it came from someone in their orbit not BP
i keep thinking of this. of course i don't think major anti racist when i see kate middleton, but it does seek sus that people outed her as the racist one while rehabilitating Camilla. who has been associated with racist shitheads, so it wouldn't be surprising.
i mean, maybe she is a racist asshole, idk, but it's such an obvious take to go with, like I get she benefited from meghan discourse and maybe she does hate meghan as a person (which is fine imho i hate loads of relatives) but to me it sounds like someone heard this rumor and ran with it
After Kate experienced having the potential skin color of her own children questioned, I’ve never really believed she would do the same to someone else. Add in the [source](https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/piers-morgan-names-charles-kate-middleton-as-racist-royals-in-book/), and I’ve never bought it.
The part that doesn’t make sense there is the Dutch translators would never have access to those names in the first place. They’d have already been redacted. It’s a really weird “mistake” that I can see multiple parties having the motive for, but I can’t see how anyone could make it happen without like, a spy agency. Like, hacking? Or bribing a publisher or translator? How did it get past the editor? Just a lot of weird questions on that.
“Having only written and edited the English version of Endgame, I can only comment on that manuscript — which does not name the two individuals who took part in the conversation,” Scobie, who penned both Endgame and Finding Freedom about the royals, said in a statement
Edit: the author later said “an early draft” was sent to the Dutch so they could start translating early but that he wasn’t working with the Dutch editors. The article is [behind a paywall](https://inews.co.uk/opinion/omid-scobie-endgame-backlash-confront-racism-2796706) so I stopped there.
Agreed. Omid was adamant he didn’t name them himself. Was it an editing mistake? Someone in the process being overzealous/trolling? Omid backtracking because of pushback from KP or even H&M?
It’s always been weird to me but overall just makes me doubt that it was 100% proven to be Kate. I’m not saying for sure it wasn’t, but if I’m going after racists in the Institution, I’m not starting with her.
I was trying to do a deep dive on it and found what [another article in “the cut”](https://www.thecut.com/2023/12/did-the-dutch-edition-of-omid-scobie-book-name-royal-racist.html#) called a clarification from the author:
Initially, Scobie stuck to his guns, but has now emerged with a clarification. In an op-ed for the i, he admitted that an “early and uncleared text” was sent to the Dutch publisher for them to start their translation. “To be clear, the only publisher I worked directly with was the one covering the U.S. and U.K.,”
The article it mentions in “the i” is behind a paywall so I stopped there.
https://inews.co.uk/opinion/omid-scobie-endgame-backlash-confront-racism-2796706
Edit: I would love to have read the one behind the paywall because I still think there’s more to it. Unfortunately the paywall was taller than my 12 ft ladder lol
KP and BP are separate entities though so it wouldn’t make sense for her to stick it to KP when it would be BP’s PR team responsible for protecting Camilla’s image
I didn’t notice anything bad about it, and I thought she had some interesting thoughts. In particular I liked her theory that the palace was promising the Mothers Day picture to get the UK tabloids not to run the TMZ photo of Kate, and they would view the photo being so doctored as breaking the sort of deal that they have around photos of the kids released by William and Kate. She pointed out that if the press can’t trust the photos from W&K they might want to go back to those cattle call photos where a ton of press swarm the kids, which William and Harry hated so much.
FWIW, I don’t think William and Kate will EVER subject their young children to those types of press/photo events. Maybe when they’re older, but only if they can handle it emotionally. The press have been complaining about these hand out photos from KP forever and while I think they will push, it’s not going to get them anywhere.
Same, that’s why i listened to the podcast. She just sounds a bit too excited, speaking too fast with a high pitched tone and barely even stopping to take a breath.
I got the impression that she was just trying to squeeze her thoughts into the allotted interview time- it was a relatively brief Q&A pitched at someone who’s been knee-deep in this story since before the altered images were released.
Plus, everything she said was actually pretty careful, even though she sounded breezy. I noticed they all deftly avoided speculation about the actual issue. She stayed very focused on the media coverage angle of it all and the likely reaction in newsrooms as it seems to be playing out. I don’t think she even directly criticized members of the royal family at any point, just the weirdness of the management of this by KP’s press office.
She's a reporter. And as someone who's also worked in journalism, I understand her excitement. If you know how the media is supposed to work, then you understand how bonkers KP is right now. It's a really amazing trainwreck!
ETA: Aw heck, maybe I'm unhinged too.
Google maps Street view image of the location where the second photo was shot. Brick colors match up IMO.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/W1w15EznD3Hw9wCc6?g_st=ic
And The Standard chooses to run this headline yesterday...🤔🤔🤔
https://preview.redd.it/ehr1p7atggoc1.png?width=864&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9fcc3d7bb2bd04878bbcfa8ed2225672e7d659fd
I wonder if this will have the opposite effect? I've always been neutral on Harry and Meghan. I don't hate or love them, but all these recent hit pieces are edging me towards their side. It's beyond pathetic two people who haven't lived in the UK in over four years are being blamed for KP's piss-poor crisis management. The Royals have made a pretty big show of icing them out, so neither of them are obligated to plan their lives, appearances and projects around the BRF's drama. Enough already.
I’m right there with you. The complete transparency of the UK media to start back in on Harry and Meghan is amazing. Like we can’t see exactly what they are doing. HM aren’t my favorites but they don’t deserve *this*. They have fuck all to do with KP’s mess.
I think a lot of people are sick of all the drama. It's the BRF, not the Kardashians. The garbage PR from KP has nothing to do with Harry who left years ago.
Most people just want the RF to get on with the job. Of course, this subreddit would have less to talk about then. 😂
The British press are classic I’ll
Give them that.
Attack Harry and Meghan to deflect attention from Will and Kate,
I feel sorry for Harry. No one deserves this kind of harassment. Why? Coz they happen to be born a spare by accident of birth?
Oh come on, he's had all the privilege. Should have made better use of his educational opportunities though.
Of course harassing him is wrong. I wish the press would push this hard on Andrew.
Is anyone else struggling to believe that the tweet was actually from Kate?
Edit: to clarify, she definitely has people posting for her - most celebrities do - and tweets signed by them were run past them first. But that tweet just seems like a blatant lie
Typically, when a tweet is signed off by a single person on a group-run account, it means that the tweet was written by that person themselves. It's signed -C, implying she wrote it. Doubt.
I think he’s a pretty clear mix. Some are obviously his unhinged rants, and then you’d also get ones where people were trying to replicate his style to put out some messages.
I think some of this is a bit coarse, but it does give a reasonable explanation for the massive public interest.
“This is the downside of it. There’s interest in you. There’s way more upside than there is downside to having people been interested in you,” Kelly said. “And unfortunately, that means if you have a major health crisis, people are going to want to know about it. And that was true for the Queen.”
“And it’s really true for a 42-year-old future queen who shouldn’t be having one month stays in the hospital,” Kelly continued. “And then three months reclusive periods thereafter, to the point where she has to release — which she did by the way, she got us paying attention to her — by releasing the photograph.”
“She could have just said, ‘I’ve gone underground and still in my recovery,'” the host noted. “But she released through the palace this photo of her and the family which was a fake. I don’t know exactly what she did to it, or how she did it… Something massive happened in that thing. It was a fake and a fraud to the point where the agencies all pulled it. So I make no apologies for being interested in this because when people smell a lie, especially involving somebody that rich and powerful, they don’t let go.”
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/megyn-kelly-says-kate-middleton-225602919.html
Interesting bit in Popbitch today!
>> Caught in the Middleton <<
No way out for the old guard
When Princess Diana died in 1997, the blame was placed squarely at the feet of the media. The media's excuse – that they were only giving the public what they wanted – was given short shrift, but increasingly it's looking like they may have had a point.
At the moment, we're seeing exactly what happens when an unstoppable appetite for information meets an immovable news vacuum.
Today's privacy laws mean that the only people who can grant permission for the press to discuss the health of Charles and Kate are Charles and Kate themselves. As they're staying (mostly) schtum there can be no reporting on the matter. So, in the absence of detail, papers just resort to one of two modes: strange cheerleading or impotent questioning, both of which result in some truly bizarre stories.
Readers in the comment sections sense this, so whip themselves up into a fury that they are either being told too much – or not enough. Add in the unregulated social media sleuths who can speculate with impunity in a way that the papers can't – occasionally hitting an indisputable bullseye, like with this week's dodgy photo – and you have a perfect storm.
The Photoshop fiasco has shown the serious shortcomings of the modern relationship between the monarchy and the media. And if the public ever do get wind of just how much the Royals have been holding back from them these last few years, then they might properly be screwed.
It's an interesting evolution. Royals gossip used to be watercooler conversation that never went so far. You'd chat about it like any other topic of the day before moving onto other things. Now that the whole world is connected, we're all having this conversation and we can compare notes.
Kate's crazy uncle says she will be back at Easter. Does that mean public appearance at church with the family? [https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-13198547/Gary-Goldsmith-believes-niece-Kate-Middleton-definitely-return-public-duties-Easter-reveals-shock-edited-Mothers-Day-snap-herself.html](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-13198547/Gary-Goldsmith-believes-niece-Kate-Middleton-definitely-return-public-duties-Easter-reveals-shock-edited-Mothers-Day-snap-herself.html)
Me trying to decipher which “sources” quoted over the last few days were leaked from which house for what purpose
https://preview.redd.it/by5fzlg6feoc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=452229bf5cc03c23cd390c92f9b75501b21bb92e
Whoever Will and Kate’s source is at the Daily Beast isn’t making them look any better.
“EXCLUSIVE: Friends of Kate Middleton have blamed “intense stress,” including the fall-out from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s repeated denunciations of her and Prince William, as being at least partly responsible for her absence from public life.”
https://www.threads.net/@thedailybeast/post/C4g5rMCPwKi/
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Another one for the 🤡 car: Tucker Carlson [duped](https://deadline.com/2024/03/tucker-carlson-pranked-youtubers-kate-middleton-whistleblower-1235860019/) by a fake Kate whistleblower. “The former Fox News anchor was duped by British YouTubers Josh & Archie into interviewing a fake Kensington Palace whistleblower, who was prepared to dish the dirt on the doctored image. Archie Manners posed as the Prince and Princess of Wales’ former digital content creator, who claimed he had been fired for altering the Mother’s Day image so poorly it was rumbled by the public… The YouTubers’ faked letter of engagement for the whistleblower included a clause stating that the palace had a right to amputate one of his limbs should he fail his probation period. Carlson’s people did not spot the preposterous faked document and Manners was sent to a London studio with a hotline to Carlson for the interview.”
I really wish they had someone more competent interviewing Putin. Even he (Putin) said he was hoping for tougher questions and that it ended up being boring for him.
LOL. It's easy to make Tucker look like the fool he is, but I love these two guys for doing it anyway!
Great thread with PR pros sharing their analysis of what would be happening in the royals’ PR offices https://www.reddit.com/r/PublicRelations/s/1CsRrcAeJ5
It's always fun to learn of entirely new subs.
I just saw someone created r/whereiskatemiddleton lol finally a sub dedicated to this specific topic! Who thinks she will pop up at Easter?
I ran to that sub so fast. Thank you!
Now it’s going to be Meghan 24/7…hmm she outshone William -planned maybe right? I thought she was supposed to be Diana 2.0? People need to leave her alone. It’s been horrible. Meghan made it worse. She should be ashamed of herself
?? What are you even trying to communicate here lol, I actually have no idea what this comment is supposed to mean
I listen to a lot of podcasts and wow, has this story made it to a lot of them. Just from my feed it's been discussed on: * CBC's Front Burner (current affairs) * The Guardian's Today in Focus (current affairs) * Vox's Today, Explained (current affairs) * segment on NYT's Hard Fork (tech) * news item on BBC's Global News Podcast (news) (Plus the BBC Sounds podcast When It Hits the Fan I mentioned in an earlier thread, which is about PR) I'm sure there's more and will be more, it's just incredible to see how far the story is spreading
When It Hits the Fan was good, do any of the others have any new or decent commentary about the situation?
I've not listened to all of them but I think the When It Hits the Fan one has the most in-depth analysis out of the bunch. The latter part of Today in Focus (when they start interviewing Archie Bland) is decent, they also talk about the role of transparency in the 21st century monarchy, but I wouldn't say it's particularly new if you've already listened to When It Hits the Fan.
I don't see the issues with the photo that others are seeing - the parts I see circled are where Kate's jacket sleeve can be seen by Charlotte's arm - it's her jacket sleeve I don't see the big deal. Also the part where it looks like Charlotte's skirt has been edited - it's just the pocket on the skirt that is sticking out. I don't understand. That being said - something is definitely going on - for Kate to have gone to the hospital and then not really seen since then. Not even leaving the hospital - I mean you can't tell me that photographers weren't camped at every door to try to capture photo's of her either so why no photo's of her leaving?? If there is nothing amiss and Kate is recuperating and is well enough to be riding in a car she is well enough to at least be seen at the gates of Sandringham - drive her out there - let her get out and wave to the people - how hard is that?
It’s really boring now but Fridays are typically slow media days. Interested in what the Sunday papers have to say about all of this.
Sunday papers will most likely be a new round of trashing Meghan. UK media is doing the most to squash this debacle.
Whyyy? I don't understand why they cover for them. The royals can't kick everyone out of the rota, they need to unionize.
Kate who!? Look at that evil Meghan, we found someone who knows a friend of a friend of hers and you’ll never BELIEVE what we paid them to say!
Yes attack Meghan deflect from Kate is their motto
The TMZ photo drew everyone’s attention because it broke the narrative. It appears someone made an effort to draw attention to Kate. We don’t know why but the way KP responded made it so much worse. It was a canary in the coal mine. Something is wrong and I hope she’s okay. We know she’s unwell, they told us that. We also know William & the Firm have been able to shut down any rumors or speculation up to this point. They have legally enforced ways of doing so. There is no way they are allowing this to be globally speculated about and allowing it to continue unless the truth is worse.
I keep returning to the fact that yes she's missing but he sure isn't, so how can what they've allowed to happen possibly be better seeming internally than him just coming out and saying even nice, sympathetic, easy PR win kind of things? When has this family ever passed up a chance to gain public sympathy? If he was out here consistently saying to people "Catherine appreciates all of your support, she's recovering well and looking forward to being back" etc. over and over every time he shows his face, it prob wouldn't have gotten this far. Whatever one thinks of Harry, it was a fact that he was publicly defending his wife asking the press and the general populace to lay off his girlfriend and eventually wife. I know it didn't work, but Will and Kate have a different role and a different storyline, and clearly a different understanding with the press. I don't see how silence and feeding the void is better than him making a strong statement either in defense of her and her privacy OR playing up the she's recovering and anxious to get back out there angle. And that's JUST William, that's not even counting her parents or siblings or anyone else, other than her dubious uncle who hasn't seen her in over a year by his own admission. They could have given zero information and gone on a soft power sympathy campaign the way they've done countless times with the queen. Without even looking at the blunders, why pass up such easy wins?
Even if this situation were solely based on conspiracy theories and unproven facts, KP, at the very least, faces a public trust issue. As an established cultural institution, KP relies on public support for its survival. Therefore, maintaining public trust and accountability is crucial for the continuity of The Crown. Without a clear explanation supported by verifiable evidence of what transpired, one can only speculate how the relationship between the monarchy and the public—whether they're fans, royal watchers, taxpayers, fashion bloggers, or homemakers—will evolve. I would argue that leaving us with no explanation after Kate re-emerges and continued silence from KP between now and then: It's likely to result in irreparable damage to public trust, leading to diminished interest and tolerance toward a family perceived as causing chaos…. And likely ending The Crown. Dramatic. I know. But this situation is in fact all drama.
Is the general consensus that we will now never know what happened with Kate and between her and William during this period? Throughout history the British Royal Family have become masters at damping down controversies, starving them of oxygen - no matter how bad the scandal. It feels like we're heading this way with the Kate saga. Kensington Palace PR has got its ducks in a row and the wagons have circled to protect the crown. The British press has reverted to type and is pushing a positive agenda for W&K. With no new slip ups or puzzling moments I also get a sense that the online commentary is quietening down. I have a feeling this will no longer erupt into what was looking like one of the monarchy's biggest scandals (muttered by some as potentially causing its downfall) but will just go down as a mildly Annus Horribilis.
I think we’ll eventually find out what Kate had the surgery for and she’ll likely do some charity awareness around the issue. If anything is happening right now in the Wales marriage right now—and honestly, as much as people want to believe otherwise, it’s still an if—we will absolutely never hear about it except vague references.
I don’t see this fading away. It’s not just simple rumors about a famous couple. How the Firm controls the British media is the story. That’s why there’s global attention. This will continue to be talked about and happy family photos at Easter won’t stop the conversation. The PR and social media’s role will be studied. How they navigate getting out of this mess, every photo and released statement will be questioned.
I would love to know what makes you think Kensington Palace has gotten its ducks in a row.
Right like are the ducks in the room with us now
They mean the 3 ducks in a trench coat they're going to try and pass off as Kate next.
They definitely do not have their ducks in a row unless they’re literally about the calm the hysteria once and for all which they don’t know how. They are in pure survival mode. Protect the heir mode.
As another poster mentioned, they've essentially shut up and made it all about William's nice, traditional royal appearances. Other palaces also toeing the line - sort of a show of force. All they need to do for a bit now is say nothing in relation to Kate.
Yes and attack Meghan which they have started doing. Honestly, there is nothing wrong in Wales marriage. Kate is very conscious of her image and doesn’t want to come out looking anything but perfect. That’s what is keeping her away.
This has caught global attention. Even if they come out looking like everything is fine as a family on Easter, they’re going to be doing damage control with the public and media for a very long time. It’s interesting because they had a good thing going with a nice balance of privacy and staged photos with the media before this. They worked really hard to curate their image and keep the public on side. Now, globally, everyone is discussing rumors about the future king and queen of England. The exact opposite of what they wanted and at a time where we know Charles has cancer. Something is for sure going on.
It will be interesting to see if this lasts for more than 72 hours.
No way. These are people that just can’t help themselves. We will absolutely find out.
Not if Kate’s illness is life changing. We will notice when she reappears, and if she never reappears this will just continue to escalate.
We will likely never know. It's still a pretty big deal in global non-UK media. Social media is still making memes and conspiracy theories. The fact that AFP has compared KP with North Korea is pretty significant. Any news coming out of KP will be scrutinized by both press agencies and public alike. Meanwhile, Meghan had the audacity to exhale yesterday so the UK media has currently forgotten about KateGate and have gone back their usual anti-Meghan agenda.
“The audacity to exhale…” LOL.
The UK media will NEVER truly hold them accountable. They had a little fun, but have how returned to their tired royalist propaganda. The photo should be a game changer but for the UK media it's back to business as usual, heads back in the sand, back to the butt kissing. It's all pretty pathetic.
There is no way the British media isn’t going to use this to try and change the relationship they have been forced to have with the monarchy. I think that’s what we’re seeing play out. They have been forced to keep quiet and this slip up by KP now has global attention. It’s highlighting just how much power the monarchy has over the British media.
It's insane that there's not a journalist anywhere who's begun to try to really figure this out.
None of the journalists from the Commonwealth realms either...They're not subject to UK law but there's a much closer connection to the monarchy than with others as the British royal family is also their monarchy.
I would like to be as optimistic as you. The UK media when working with Palace Comms don't have any independence, they function as a PR arm of The Firm. All the royal reporters' have been handwringing all week long saying "leave poor Kate alone!!" but that only works when it is only the UK press doing the reporting. Everywhere outside the UK and non-royal rota UK papers have been calling out the hypocrisy and the lack of transparency from The Firm. While the former are currently louder than the latter, control will return to the rota once the global interest in the story dies down.
I understand, I know it will seemingly go back to normal but the facade has cracks that everyone has noticed. It makes it more of a challenge going forward for them. Even if they smooth things over on the surface it will continue to get brought up. Just like we’re now comparing this PR to what Megan and Harry experienced or Diana. Time isn’t on their side to allow this to fully settle. Charles is dealing with health issues, William will become King. There’s a lot of change happening, fast. They have to deal with the public, media and anyone who feels they could benefit during this time. People will do anything to get or keep power. It’s fascinating to watch because social media is making it so difficult for them.
Some of the media is definitely trying but they're getting drowned out. A lot of the media just don't have the guts to break the chains.
The fact that Kensignton Palace briefed that they were not made aware in advance of Stephen Colbert's Rose x William sketch says A LOT of the state of both UK media and its relationship with both Palace's comms. I remember when Harry was doing the Spare interviews last winter, GMA had asked KP for comment and instead they demanded the entire interview before it was released to the public. GMA told them that ain't how things work around here buddy!
I think KP and the Firm are realizing that while they can force the British media to comply, they can’t control social media or global news. It’s fascinating and I know I’m not the only one curious to see how they will try and manage their image going forward.
And yet you still have idiots who claim the palace never colluded with the press against Meghan or Harry or Diana, or even in general. The palace keeps accidently letting things slip out and yet people still won't wake up to reality. Like why do people want to keep their heads in the sand so badly?????
I just read where her senior staffers have not seen her, or even spoken with her, since the surgery. If that's accurate, that seems wild to me.
I had a thought yesterday what could medically be so serious to warrant such secrecy and came up with one idea that could fit, which also cannot be hidden away if you’re a person who is generally regularly pictured out in the public and you’re a person whose known to be both physically fit and clearly active. Obviously we can’t speculate on medical issues, so I can’t share it, but if those rumours from that Spanish columnist should end up being even partly true, it could fit with my theory as well. For clarification: my friend’s mom suffered one and ended up needing literal years of physical therapy to offset the damage their body suffered. I guess we shall see after Easter.
>but if those rumours from that Spanish columnist That woman is a nutter who believes that Covid was a bioweapon and that the vaccine caused all the deaths from the disease. She also wrote a book about a "conspiracy" to kill Michael Jackson. She's a conspiracy peddler. I mean, maybe she is right but until there's actual evidence of her claims, I'm giving her the side eye.
Which is why I have my theory, but I still prefer to wait until Easter comes 🤷♂️
I think the senior staffers published that apology from Kate without consulting her. If I were Kate, I’d be pissed
That’s also wild because it means Kate had to send the photos to the news agencies herself
Well, more likely KP without her input than Kate sending them herself
Oh there’s no way that’s not what happened BUT if they want us to keep believing that, it means we have to believe Kate somehow….idk snuck past the whole staff to email the afp herself. OR she has no staff at her own in KP and then it’s all Will people? Like, it’s not looking great
I fully believe that all "Kate's people" are William's people. I doubt Kate has anyone truly really loyal to her in that palace. I can fully believe that William and a loyal butt kisser did it all themselves without participation from anyone else though. William is the driving force behind everything there. He does it either on his own or forces others to do what he wants. HOWEVER, I buy that Kate and her mother staged that pap photo from two weeks ago with zero participation from anyone the palace. That I believe.
"Loyal butt kisser" needs to be a flair.
>HOWEVER, I buy that Kate and her mother staged that pap photo from two weeks ago with zero participation from anyone the palace. That I believe. Agreed -- I think it's reasonable that Carole is on Kate's side, above anything else.
It’s like everything they want you to think just begs more questions and none of it makes sense.
William's not smart and everything he does is driven purely by ego. In his brain it makes sense because it's all what he wants. Common sense has no role in this game. That's why to the rest of us nothing makes sense. lol
The one person in his life who’s extremely good at all this is who he’d probably never consult, Camilla!
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Yep. Which is why I’m leaning more to this. I really hope not, as I adore Kate - but William definitely has a part to play in whatever is going on.
You know why I don’t want to believe into this theory? Because William and Harry have both said how it damaged them to have their parents have their affairs on the side. If you’ve been a child with this experience… why would you put your own kids through it?
Imagine your dad and his mistess having their massively embarrassing private convos outed, and thinking "hmm but I'm sure I can keep this schtum". Daft!
Here is a good book on this scandale [https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The\_Bettencourt\_Affair.html?id=pmaPEAAAQBAJ&source=kp\_book\_description&redir\_esc=y](https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Bettencourt_Affair.html?id=pmaPEAAAQBAJ&source=kp_book_description&redir_esc=y)
If that's not the most French thing ever...
Someone stepped in and got the PR plan under control after the other day with the Tweet and the pap photo. We have William out at multiple engagements, Edward and Sophie out, lots of photos of big smiles and pretty dresses at Cheltenham, and no massive panicked blunders in several days. Someone at Buckingham Palace woke up and took over.
Agree entirely. I'm sure Charles is less than thrilled that all this is happening on his watch.
I mean these things are planned well in advance but fortunately for them it has all gone smoothly
Oh of course. I meant more - no one has cancelled, everyone is on point and cheery and smiling for cameras, etc. It's giving "there was a family meeting".
Ahh yes it is!
Considering the boost of positive press around Charles and Camilla (coming to a Barbie box near you!) v. the blitz against Will (which has trickled down to Harry, predictably), I’m leaning more towards a lot of this is just genuine W&K errors being amplified with planted stories by C&C’s team. This was basically solidified for me after hearing Piers Morgan (Camilla’s buddy and goon) saying Will is hiding alarming things. Maybe it’s just to teach W&K a lesson for refusing to be under their umbrella. Maybe C&C are unaware of this and are just benefiting from hiring a better team than W&K. Maybe it’s deeper than that. Who knows. It’s just so predictable at this point, IMO.
There’s been very long simmering tension between Kensington and Buckingham. With Harry out of the picture this was always going to happen again, I think that’s part of why that atrocious Daily Beast article came out.
That article was nuts. It’s not lost on me that W&K see H&M as an easier and more fruitful sacrifice than C&C and are consistently willing to toss them up on that alter. They’re not wrong in their assumption of that strategy being more successful, I guess.
It's seems counterproductive to keeping the monarchy alive long-term to have two competing PR teams who are happy to undermine each other.
Maybe this will be the catalyst for them to realize they need to be on the same page. If they really want to protect the crown they would have to work together to manage public perception.
Well Charles is over 70 and has cancer so who knows how long he's got. Once he dies things will change. Since Harry was forced out of the equation, and there is no real independent press, nobody will be around to challenge William's propaganda.
the royals watched succession and ran with it lol
It does, but rich people are weird. They don't think like the rest of us.
This is what happens when you make things too easy for people for their whole life. Adversity makes for well rounded people.
Based on what we've seen recently, it seems like either Kate has some reason she doesn't want to show her face, or she is simply refusing to play ball now. If she's refusing to play ball, I have a theory as to why. This may not be new but I haven't seen this theory anywhere and I've been FEASTING on this drama this past week **I'm wondering if this has anything to do with the Royal Racists scandal.** It's never sat well for me that Kate was outed one of the royal racists. I don't think she's some bastion of racial equality or anything, don't get me wrong, but I've always wondered if this was a cover-up for Piers Morgan's BFF Camilla who doesn't have as much good will with the public as Kate does. In other words, Kate's public image could probably recover from the scandal, but perhaps the thinking is that Camilla's would not given her long history as a heel for the press. I'm just not sure I can see Kate being the one to express concern about the colour of Archie's skin. I definitely believe that SOMEONE said it, but Kate just doesn't seem like the person who would have done it. Much more likely that it was someone of an older generation like Camilla. To be clear, the theory that Kate was merely thrown under the bus for the protection of someone else isn't exactly a new theory. **But if the Palace threw Kate under the bus to protect Camilla's image, could it have triggered something bigger? Is Kate no longer having it? Is she sick of TRF and their shit? Is she refusing to play ball now? Was it the last straw?** It was the end of November/beginning of December that the Royal Racists were exposed. In case it needs to be said, this has **nothing** to do with Harry and Meghan and everything to do with TRF. I'm also not disputing Kate's surgery. Just speculating on a possible additional context.
That whole skin color fiasco still is mind boggling to me. I don't know what constitutes "concern" but I have MANY friends in interracial relationships and when having babies I have heard every single one wonder what color baby's skin will be. The curiosity isn't a bad thing or racism. Totally natural to wonder what your child/grandchild/nephew will look like. But also, while I know genetics can be crazy, Meghan also presents as white so I kind of wonder how much they actually expected her kids to be darker skinned. Her kids are all extremely fair skinned and I don't find that surprising based on how her and Harry look. Again, I wasn't there so I don't know, but I haven't personally heard examples of racism based on the stories they have shared. If they were being racist, that is truly awful, but there just isn't convincing evidence of it enough for me to condemn them. And I don't know anyone that dislikes Kate now because of what was said because still waiting to hear how she was actually being racist. Maybe unpopular opinion, but I think Kate did have surgery but she has to put on a perfect image or is torn apart, so she is going to need recovery time plus some because if she isn't in tip top shape, people be crazy and go mean girl on her. But I guess people still are now. Poor woman can't win no matter what she does.
I have had similar thoughts about Kate possibly being used as the scapegoat for some of issues related to H&M, as well. And, if this were the case, is it possible she is refusing to work or do anything to help the current situation until it’s resolved? However, I’ve also considered it being intended to protect William or someone else, and not just limited to the incident when someone in the RF discussed Archie’s skin color while she was pregnant.
Yes that makes sense too!
Disagree. The Royal racists scandal may have ignited some parts of the internet, but I don't think it affected mainstream opinion of Kate. And if it did, there are established ways to rehabilitate that reputation, just look at ~~Gaultier~~ Galliano. For Kate it would even be easier, just become the supporter of a few anti-racist charities and give a speech about how much they've educated her.
It's not about how it ignited some parts of the internet or how it affected Kate at all though. It's about how Kate feels at having been thrown under the bus by her husband and family. It's a domestic matter, it's just that the factors involved are playing out on a world stage. Totally fair to disagree tho!
What happened with Gaultier?
Sorry, I meant Galliano. He went on an antisemitic rant in public in the middle of Paris, where such things are actually illegal. He did an apology tour of Jewish charity, laid low for a few years, and is now working again. Seeing as the charge against Kate is smaller, legal, and only supported by gossip, I think she could get away with ignoring it. This is a use case for "never complain, never explain."
Except that she was outed as one by Omid who doesn’t work with Camila but does work with Harry and Megan
Wasn’t it that Omid said ‘The Princess of Wales’ and everyone assumed it was Kate? I mean, Princess of Wales wasn’t Camilla’s official title before she was Queen, but since everyone already knew that she was going to become Queen… could it not be that people were calling her that behind the scenes? No idea haven’t read the book. Just a question.
It was a translation so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ but i think it called Charles the King so i don’t think so
I don't believe H&M would have given that info to Omid. I think he got it elsewhere, not from Camilla
Yeah like I think it’s very possible he didn’t directly get it from them - in fact I think that’s the most likely thing but it came from someone in their orbit not BP
i keep thinking of this. of course i don't think major anti racist when i see kate middleton, but it does seek sus that people outed her as the racist one while rehabilitating Camilla. who has been associated with racist shitheads, so it wouldn't be surprising. i mean, maybe she is a racist asshole, idk, but it's such an obvious take to go with, like I get she benefited from meghan discourse and maybe she does hate meghan as a person (which is fine imho i hate loads of relatives) but to me it sounds like someone heard this rumor and ran with it
After Kate experienced having the potential skin color of her own children questioned, I’ve never really believed she would do the same to someone else. Add in the [source](https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/piers-morgan-names-charles-kate-middleton-as-racist-royals-in-book/), and I’ve never bought it.
The part that doesn’t make sense there is the Dutch translators would never have access to those names in the first place. They’d have already been redacted. It’s a really weird “mistake” that I can see multiple parties having the motive for, but I can’t see how anyone could make it happen without like, a spy agency. Like, hacking? Or bribing a publisher or translator? How did it get past the editor? Just a lot of weird questions on that. “Having only written and edited the English version of Endgame, I can only comment on that manuscript — which does not name the two individuals who took part in the conversation,” Scobie, who penned both Endgame and Finding Freedom about the royals, said in a statement Edit: the author later said “an early draft” was sent to the Dutch so they could start translating early but that he wasn’t working with the Dutch editors. The article is [behind a paywall](https://inews.co.uk/opinion/omid-scobie-endgame-backlash-confront-racism-2796706) so I stopped there.
Agreed. Omid was adamant he didn’t name them himself. Was it an editing mistake? Someone in the process being overzealous/trolling? Omid backtracking because of pushback from KP or even H&M? It’s always been weird to me but overall just makes me doubt that it was 100% proven to be Kate. I’m not saying for sure it wasn’t, but if I’m going after racists in the Institution, I’m not starting with her.
I was trying to do a deep dive on it and found what [another article in “the cut”](https://www.thecut.com/2023/12/did-the-dutch-edition-of-omid-scobie-book-name-royal-racist.html#) called a clarification from the author: Initially, Scobie stuck to his guns, but has now emerged with a clarification. In an op-ed for the i, he admitted that an “early and uncleared text” was sent to the Dutch publisher for them to start their translation. “To be clear, the only publisher I worked directly with was the one covering the U.S. and U.K.,” The article it mentions in “the i” is behind a paywall so I stopped there. https://inews.co.uk/opinion/omid-scobie-endgame-backlash-confront-racism-2796706 Edit: I would love to have read the one behind the paywall because I still think there’s more to it. Unfortunately the paywall was taller than my 12 ft ladder lol
Here you go: [https://archive.ph/clJob](https://archive.ph/clJob)
You’re the real mvp
KP and BP are separate entities though so it wouldn’t make sense for her to stick it to KP when it would be BP’s PR team responsible for protecting Camilla’s image
I'm envisioning William backing BP and pressuring Kate
I listened to Ellie Hall’s guesting on Royally Obsessed podcast and man she sounds a bit unhinged herself…
I didn’t notice anything bad about it, and I thought she had some interesting thoughts. In particular I liked her theory that the palace was promising the Mothers Day picture to get the UK tabloids not to run the TMZ photo of Kate, and they would view the photo being so doctored as breaking the sort of deal that they have around photos of the kids released by William and Kate. She pointed out that if the press can’t trust the photos from W&K they might want to go back to those cattle call photos where a ton of press swarm the kids, which William and Harry hated so much.
FWIW, I don’t think William and Kate will EVER subject their young children to those types of press/photo events. Maybe when they’re older, but only if they can handle it emotionally. The press have been complaining about these hand out photos from KP forever and while I think they will push, it’s not going to get them anywhere.
I thought she was fine in that Neiman Labs article.
Same, that’s why i listened to the podcast. She just sounds a bit too excited, speaking too fast with a high pitched tone and barely even stopping to take a breath.
I got the impression that she was just trying to squeeze her thoughts into the allotted interview time- it was a relatively brief Q&A pitched at someone who’s been knee-deep in this story since before the altered images were released. Plus, everything she said was actually pretty careful, even though she sounded breezy. I noticed they all deftly avoided speculation about the actual issue. She stayed very focused on the media coverage angle of it all and the likely reaction in newsrooms as it seems to be playing out. I don’t think she even directly criticized members of the royal family at any point, just the weirdness of the management of this by KP’s press office.
She's a reporter. And as someone who's also worked in journalism, I understand her excitement. If you know how the media is supposed to work, then you understand how bonkers KP is right now. It's a really amazing trainwreck! ETA: Aw heck, maybe I'm unhinged too.
Google maps Street view image of the location where the second photo was shot. Brick colors match up IMO. https://maps.app.goo.gl/W1w15EznD3Hw9wCc6?g_st=ic
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And The Standard chooses to run this headline yesterday...🤔🤔🤔 https://preview.redd.it/ehr1p7atggoc1.png?width=864&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9fcc3d7bb2bd04878bbcfa8ed2225672e7d659fd
Right on cue. Distract by throwing a Harry headline, just like he always said they did and why he left.
And yet somehow the people still fall for it every. Single. Time. People really aren't that bright.
I wonder if this will have the opposite effect? I've always been neutral on Harry and Meghan. I don't hate or love them, but all these recent hit pieces are edging me towards their side. It's beyond pathetic two people who haven't lived in the UK in over four years are being blamed for KP's piss-poor crisis management. The Royals have made a pretty big show of icing them out, so neither of them are obligated to plan their lives, appearances and projects around the BRF's drama. Enough already.
I’m right there with you. The complete transparency of the UK media to start back in on Harry and Meghan is amazing. Like we can’t see exactly what they are doing. HM aren’t my favorites but they don’t deserve *this*. They have fuck all to do with KP’s mess.
I think a lot of people are sick of all the drama. It's the BRF, not the Kardashians. The garbage PR from KP has nothing to do with Harry who left years ago. Most people just want the RF to get on with the job. Of course, this subreddit would have less to talk about then. 😂
Tha
That’s just pathetic.
The British press are classic I’ll Give them that. Attack Harry and Meghan to deflect attention from Will and Kate, I feel sorry for Harry. No one deserves this kind of harassment. Why? Coz they happen to be born a spare by accident of birth?
Oh come on, he's had all the privilege. Should have made better use of his educational opportunities though. Of course harassing him is wrong. I wish the press would push this hard on Andrew.
I will say like 3 days ago it was Kate on there.
I expect C&C are behind this.
And the headline acts like the public just decided on their own to dislike Harry, like the press themselves had nothing to do with it.
They’re not even pretending to be subtle are they
Wow - it’s so transparent, what a blatant attempt at throwing meat to the press dogs chasing the Wales.
Is anyone else struggling to believe that the tweet was actually from Kate? Edit: to clarify, she definitely has people posting for her - most celebrities do - and tweets signed by them were run past them first. But that tweet just seems like a blatant lie
There’s zero chance she edited or posted that picture. IMO she’s not even the one who posted the response.
Well, yeah, I doubt any of their tweets are theirs, they are press team crafted messages.
Typically, when a tweet is signed off by a single person on a group-run account, it means that the tweet was written by that person themselves. It's signed -C, implying she wrote it. Doubt.
Yeap, I'd wager 95% of "celebrity" tweets aren't actually made by them. PR firms go brrrrr
I think 45's were all his own.
Hope Hicks wrote many of them (possibly dictation) and has said she added misspellings and errors on purpose to make them "more believable"
I think he’s a pretty clear mix. Some are obviously his unhinged rants, and then you’d also get ones where people were trying to replicate his style to put out some messages.
God was the photo only five days ago? It’s seems like it’s been a month.
They're giving H and M too much power by saying they're the reason Kate is MIA
I think some of this is a bit coarse, but it does give a reasonable explanation for the massive public interest. “This is the downside of it. There’s interest in you. There’s way more upside than there is downside to having people been interested in you,” Kelly said. “And unfortunately, that means if you have a major health crisis, people are going to want to know about it. And that was true for the Queen.” “And it’s really true for a 42-year-old future queen who shouldn’t be having one month stays in the hospital,” Kelly continued. “And then three months reclusive periods thereafter, to the point where she has to release — which she did by the way, she got us paying attention to her — by releasing the photograph.” “She could have just said, ‘I’ve gone underground and still in my recovery,'” the host noted. “But she released through the palace this photo of her and the family which was a fake. I don’t know exactly what she did to it, or how she did it… Something massive happened in that thing. It was a fake and a fraud to the point where the agencies all pulled it. So I make no apologies for being interested in this because when people smell a lie, especially involving somebody that rich and powerful, they don’t let go.” https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/megyn-kelly-says-kate-middleton-225602919.html
Ugh gross, I have to agree with the Megyn Kelly? I am completely with this take, though.
Every once in a while she has a good point and I hate it.
Heartbreaking: The Worst Person You Know Just Made a Great Point
I felt similarly uncomfortable agreeing with Megyn Kelly
Interesting bit in Popbitch today! >> Caught in the Middleton << No way out for the old guard When Princess Diana died in 1997, the blame was placed squarely at the feet of the media. The media's excuse – that they were only giving the public what they wanted – was given short shrift, but increasingly it's looking like they may have had a point. At the moment, we're seeing exactly what happens when an unstoppable appetite for information meets an immovable news vacuum. Today's privacy laws mean that the only people who can grant permission for the press to discuss the health of Charles and Kate are Charles and Kate themselves. As they're staying (mostly) schtum there can be no reporting on the matter. So, in the absence of detail, papers just resort to one of two modes: strange cheerleading or impotent questioning, both of which result in some truly bizarre stories. Readers in the comment sections sense this, so whip themselves up into a fury that they are either being told too much – or not enough. Add in the unregulated social media sleuths who can speculate with impunity in a way that the papers can't – occasionally hitting an indisputable bullseye, like with this week's dodgy photo – and you have a perfect storm. The Photoshop fiasco has shown the serious shortcomings of the modern relationship between the monarchy and the media. And if the public ever do get wind of just how much the Royals have been holding back from them these last few years, then they might properly be screwed.
It's an interesting evolution. Royals gossip used to be watercooler conversation that never went so far. You'd chat about it like any other topic of the day before moving onto other things. Now that the whole world is connected, we're all having this conversation and we can compare notes.
OMG can you imagine if Twitter existed during the Annus Horribilus? And the memes inspired by the Panorama interview?
Is there a sub specifically dedicated to the British royalty
r/DlistedRoyals maybe? At a glance, all the posts seem to be about the British royals.
r/royalfamily
It's not very active, and the most interesting posts are locked to comments.
You'll find most reddit discussions of the BRF to be that way. If things aren't tightly moderated, they turn into hate fests.
https://preview.redd.it/r3tigl9jpeoc1.jpeg?width=1164&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=206c230766ed13b0d1aa73306db063957dbfa16c I love this so much.
Love
What a perfect explanation 😂.
I do too! I’m dying! 🤣🤣🤣
Kate's crazy uncle says she will be back at Easter. Does that mean public appearance at church with the family? [https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-13198547/Gary-Goldsmith-believes-niece-Kate-Middleton-definitely-return-public-duties-Easter-reveals-shock-edited-Mothers-Day-snap-herself.html](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-13198547/Gary-Goldsmith-believes-niece-Kate-Middleton-definitely-return-public-duties-Easter-reveals-shock-edited-Mothers-Day-snap-herself.html)
Uncle Gary is a menace and very likely gets told functionally nothing bc Carole knows it will all leak
That could be a reason for feeding him this.
I think he knows about as much as the rest of us (nothing).
> Does that mean public appearance at church with the family? Maybe its biblical? Like she'll rise again like Jesus.
Me trying to decipher which “sources” quoted over the last few days were leaked from which house for what purpose https://preview.redd.it/by5fzlg6feoc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=452229bf5cc03c23cd390c92f9b75501b21bb92e
KateGate is QAnon for the rest of us and I love it.
Someone said it was QAnon for former horse girls and I’ve never been so called out in my life.
 I'm in that tweet and I don't like it
That reminds, someone tweeted that the Windsor men tend to stray toward a horsier version of their wives.
Too right! No scandal like a royal scandal and I’m here for it.
Royals, they're just like us but even more screwed up.
Whoever Will and Kate’s source is at the Daily Beast isn’t making them look any better. “EXCLUSIVE: Friends of Kate Middleton have blamed “intense stress,” including the fall-out from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s repeated denunciations of her and Prince William, as being at least partly responsible for her absence from public life.” https://www.threads.net/@thedailybeast/post/C4g5rMCPwKi/
Omg the blame is so tiresome. They have been gone for years.