Okay , I'm just going to say it... where is Kate Middleton?

[Tuesdayalready]

(or for the MN purists, Catherine) The most high profile and popular member of royal family has not been seen since Christmas. I do think it's quite strange and so many rumours from the foreign press. And before anyone starts jumping down my throat about her having hysterectomy / crohns / ad infimum / I've had both a hysterotomy and half my intestine removed and was back in work within a 8 weeks.

Talking of Easter, part of the Greek Orthodox traditions when we lived in Cyprus, was a bonfire, for burning an effigy of Judas. Easter was a rather bigger thing there, than in the UK.

No @Stickinthemuddle that's not what I mean at all. Do you have kids? Parents don't always tell them everything because of the impact it will have. Personally I can think of two major scenarios I would not share with mine immediate at those ages. One has been ruled out.

👏 Well said, as always. And a pity it has to be repeated for those parties trying to score points off this whole sorry saga.

@whenemmafallsinlove I’m sure she isn’t terminally ill if that’s what you are hinting at? And surely not another baby?!

Had a google, fascinating!

Reminded me of similar pagan rituals, such as the burning of witch effigies in some Slavic countries.

That is fascinating!

In the Winchester, enjoying a pint and waiting for all of this to blow over.

I'm reading this thread against my will and you've made it all worth it. This has made me laugh so hard.

The thought of Kate being totally gone, and William and Co putting on a panicky charade for months – propping up a pillow as Kate, slapping a wig on it, hastily going "come in!" in a squeaky voice as servants enter.

I'm not joking about suicide btw for those no lifers who actually give a shit about the Royal Family, the Kardashians, the Real Housewives etc! It's just such a ludicrous suggestion/image

I think that poster is insinuating something about Thomas Kingston’s death, not Kate.

Ah I see. I don't even know who that is.. Kate as talky pillow and wig is still making me laugh

🤣🤣

@NotTheKateYouAreLookingFor , well what do you expect from someone who's idea of a romantic date and impenetrable fortress are the same thing!

"Her indoors . . . "

😂

The media coverage will be split, some will say she looks too thin and ill, others will say she is radiant and well and then a few will say she has put in weight while recovering. It won’t matter what she actually looks like.

And that is most likely the reason she is completely out of the public eye until Easter. She not only has to recover, she has to recover and look impeccably presented.

I’d bet the Crown Jewels the front page options are more or less written and mocked up already, the way big-name obits are. Periodically update the text with developments such as Wills’s drop-out, and they’ll be ready to go the second she’s spotted. Just flow in the picture to the appropriate layout – FRAIL KATEFINALFINAL.INDD or SHESBACKSCREAMER_FINAL.INDD – smash out an up-to-date standfirst and hit the press running.

I’d also bet strongly at this point that she cannot go anywhere even if mostly well, because the first pap shot of her, even blurry behind the wheel on the school run taken on a smartphone by someone who’s willing to risk social ostracisation in Windsor to pay off the mortgage, will be worth £££££.

I just don't get the 'angry peasants' torch procession' here demanding to know whereabouts of someone who may have had a really serious condition.

They said she'd be back at Easter - so what's not to understand? Unless you are just being nasty. This reminds me of the kerfuffle at the time of Diana's death, when the mob demanded that the Queen return to London - when she was trying to keep the bereaved princes quietly at Balmoral. She was forced by public demand to bring them back.

This reminds me of the kerfuffle at the time of Diana's death, when the mob demanded that the Queen return to London - when she was trying to keep the bereaved princes quietly at Balmoral. She was forced by public demand to bring them back

I've been getting 'aftermath of Diana's death' for a while with all this shouting about 'Where's Kate? WE DEMAND TO KNOW! SHOW US YOU'RE GRATEFUL FOR ALL THE LOVE AND CONCERN WE'RE SENDING YOU, KATE!' and you can bet that PW does as well. He knows all too well that the more you give people, the more they'll want and they're drawing a very firm boundary and maintaining it - which MN is usually pretty keen on.

Thanks for setting this all out.

I'm not sure why they thought they were being singled out/fed to the wolves or whatever they complained about. The palace doesn't clap back about all the clickbait nonsense written about W&K or Camilla either - and I think there's been a lot more of that over the years than anything said about the Sussexes during their short time as working royals - 72 days, was it? Their bad press really kicked in when they left and started sharing "their truth" and monetising their grievances at the expense of the RF generally, and the mental health of their supposed closest loved ones. As for Harry, heaven only knows what level of palace protection he's had, to keep the stories out of the press that circulated about him in certain circles.

There's even been the "WHERE ARE THE CHILDREN?" demands as well. They are exactly the same ghouls that lapped up watching William and Harry walking behind their mother's coffin. Look how well that turned out. Harry talked in Spare about feeling like he had to comfort the public over their grief when the boys were forced out on a walkabout. The ones baying for a video of the kids looking at get well cards with their mum are no better than those crowds.

Yes, thank you for explaining that, @Serenster and good points, @AlbertoDilemma .
I think the victim narrative has played well for them (to a point), so it's very interesting to see how well supported they were.

If KC3 returns to public life with a pot belly everyone will say he is looking well ...oh isn't he marvellous. If the POW comes back with so.much as a mascara smudge and an extra pound on she will be written about ad infinitum and compared to.pre and.post surgery.. Who is fuelling this other than the media...women ...yes us lot who would hate every bit of this treatment.ourselves. The next thing you know someone will want to see her scars and expect her to do a.documentary on it. This is ridiculous ...leave her alone..

Harry talked in Spare about feeling like he had to comfort the public over their grief when the boys were forced out on a walkabout

You could see from their faces that they were hating every minute and I'll bet that's a vivid and traumatic memory - and a situation that PW doesn't want to inflict on his children in their turn.

It was just awful.
Good for Prince William holding the boundaries against the nutcases who think they own the royal family.

The palace doesn't clap back about all the clickbait nonsense written about W&K or Camilla either - and I think there's been a lot more of that over the years than anything said about the Sussexes during their short time as working royals - 72 days, was it?

The people on social media currently saying what’s happening at the moment shows that the palace could have protected Meghan but didn’t are missing the point. The palace aren’t clapping back at the nonsense currently being written about Kate annd William at all. And some of it is truly horrendous - mock ups of what Kate would look like after suffering domestic violence from William, anyone?

The Palace knows attempting this would be a futile task. You literally can’t stop that - it’s global and unmanageable by any legal process. The moment you start engaging with that, you are just fuelling the beast. What the Palace have done is drawn firm boundaries and stuck to them. The whole episode actually to my mind illustrates how they are better off acting as the cruise liner sailing on through a sea of dinghies casting rocks at them, but paying them no heed. They can play the long game, and sometimes that is the best strategy.

So no, this doesn’t show they could have protected Meghan from online hate. It shows they couldn’t.