If conspiracy theories serve a purpose, then what purpose is the current one about KM serving?

[AbeSimpsonsWhiskeySour]

I was listening to a podcast about conspiracy theories and it would seem that the reason we enjoy them/ read them/ believe them is that they in some way support our beliefs or validate our fears.
Given the current discussion around Kate, that photo and the associated theories, I wondered what others felt.
Do we want to believe she is desperately unhappy, mentally unwell or sick?
Is this our way of ending the monarchy?
Do we have more awareness of the impact of celebrity and royalty on mental health? Is this a reflection of our own grief about the end of a system which is so emblematic, so integral to our country's identity?
Or do people get a kick out of rich people having secrets? Is this just punching up?

People are bored. Perhaps like to think that royalty have the sort of lack of control that leads to a man being violent, or going off with another woman on a whim etc. I really don’t think that’s the case. Royalty are the epitome of control. If you can sit through endless speeches about how exciting it is to be at the opening of a sewer / playpark / hedgehog sanctuary is without showing how bored you are, you’re not going to be the sort of person who loses control.

Perhaps like to think that royalty have the sort of lack of control that leads to a man being violent, or going off with another woman on a whim etc.

Without wanting to derail the thread, I don't think those things indicate a lack of control at all. They're a choice. And I think having the ability to sit through a bunch of boring speeches is entirely compatible with being violent or having an affair.

I don't particularly think that is what's happened but I think we minimise abusive behaviour by saying it results from a lack of control. It doesn't, that's why abuse happens in secret, because the perpetrator has the self-control to do it away from those outside the situation.

Going back to the conspiracy element, I think it's complex because on the one hand people like to see those with privilege as being just like them. But on the other hand we want royalty to have mystique. I think the outlandish suggestions come from not wanting to imagine the royals as having the normal crappy problems we all deal with.

Harry is Saltburnning the RF

It is just filling the boredom of the ghoulish.

She is obviously more ill than they expected and taking longer to recover, people want to pick over that.

But if we take the example of waterboarding, people believed that their government were doing horrible, illegal things and they were actually doing horrible, illegal things. Would we feel the same satisfaction if we found out Kate had an ED or cancer? I doubt it. The power difference seems less somehow, because she's a woman, and because she's a commoner.

Did anyone feel satisfaction upon knowing their government were torturing people?

@SalemFrosts no but I suppose there was an 'I told you so' sort of tone

Then surely you’ve answered your own question

people like guessing

people like to be proven right

Same applies here

Everyone is used to knowing everything about everyone these days UNLESS they're being deliberately private and secretive.

Folks seem to be split between wanting a monarchy to fade into the background a bit, or to be front and centre all the time (as while queen was alive), or to go away completely.

The second and third of these 3 groups don't seem to be able to handle the RF as it is now being very private and 'unseen' for long periods. So they make shit up.

I mean i must admit i got sucked into it all a bit recently! Even though deep down i think she's just not well and wanting privacy. Which is as it should be.

This one shows you who the real idiots are

I don't follow the RF much and have never heard that Catherine had an ED, is this speculation or has she spoken about it before?

Why 'obviously more ill' it was said right from the word go that she'd not be undertaking duties til Easter. That's still weeks away. There's nothing to suggest she won't be back then. At the moment - conspiracy theorists aside - her recovery is as they said.

I think Kate probably has relapsed her ED; given all the stress, and is trying to keep unwell photos of herself out of the press

ED? When has that been confirmed or is if again people with too much time on their hands speculating because she's so slim??

@Kinneddar whilst I think it's ghoulish to speculate on this, and I am guilty of being so, she does look like she has an ED. There's more to it than being thin.

She is thin and fit though! Thin does not equal ED that's a bit of a leap

@Reallybadidea - thank you for your comments on violence. As a DV survivor I think they are very perceptive & it's helpful to post such info online.

Conspiracy theorists like to think they are 'in' on some great secret that the rest of us are too dim to comprehend. They bounce their conspiracy around in an echo chamber of like minded people feeling better and better about how smart they are.

Thats appalling. So she can't just be naturally thin, the way some people are, the Internet detectives diagnose her as having an eating disorder.

Its not a “conspiracy theory.” Its just gossip. It is not new that britons are fascinated by the RF and overidentify and then overindulge in coverage.

What is different is that the storyline of this rather dull family is played out. The great mummy figure is gone. The glamorous evil doers are lying low on another continent, and the papers and people are bored with this rather dull couple. The perfect mummy and daddy storyline is done.

Yeh it’s just gossip and something for people to talk about online

@pikkumyy77 but are we ready to make Kate and Wills the villains? I don't think there is an overwhelming amount of interest in them but there is a collective fondness there.
The difference between a conspiracy theory and gossip is that the 'cover up' is about more than an individual's wellbeing. So covering up a famous persons affair isn't a conspiracy, but covering up Kate's mental illness by photoshopping her into a theory is.

Since when has Katherine looked like she has an eating disorder? She looks healthy to me. Are people getting her confused with Diana? Most of the theories are totally off the scale!