THE TIMES: Where is Kate? The royal family attracts more speculation by the day

[TallerSally]

On today's front page, the Times' Kate Mansey reports on the contrasting approaches taken by KP and BP's comms teams in their handling of the extraordinary situation the RF's currently in. It kicks off with the current host of the US's Daily Show (formerly hosted by the formidable Jon Stewart) asking some questions:

"While the King hosted friends and met world leaders, the Palace’s reluctance to comment on the Princess of Wales’s condition has created a rising sense of panic
One of America’s most popular TV comedy programmes was asking the question that had captured the nation. It was not about the Super Tuesday primary contests ahead of the US elections, or the State of the Union address, which elicited an exaggerated yawn from the presenter.

Instead, The Daily Show’s Ronny Chieng turned to look straight into the camera to ask: “Where is Kate Middleton? Where are you, Kate?”

There was no rush to provide reassurance this week from the Prince of Wales, who appeared to begin his working week on Friday with a visit to the Oval cricket ground for his Earthshot environmental campaign. Aides said that William had been busy all week, just not in a way that was visible to the public.

The King was doing the opposite. Away from public duties on doctors’ orders while he undergoes cancer treatment, the monarch had been expected to take this week as scheduled time off. Despite being told to “slow down” by the Queen, who took her own advice and flew to sunnier climes for a few days of relaxation, the King was ramping up.

He was photographed meeting world leaders and ambassadors from his living room at Buckingham Palace. Away from the cameras, he hosted friends who rallied round for afternoon tea and dinner dates. He insisted on the “more public” option of travelling between Buckingham Palace and his more comfortable private quarters at Clarence House in the State Bentley, so that he could “be seen”. Quite what the Queen made of it all from her sun lounger is anyone’s guess, but there are those in the palace who have an idea."

A tongue-in-cheek piece, but raises some interesting questions: have KP messed up the comms around Kate? and William? What is really going on with them? Why is the Royal family-funding public kept in the dark for so long, when usually not a couple of days go by without us having some nicely staged photo of some kind from Kensington Palace?

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/where-is-kate-prince-william-king-charles-cancer-khktpx9bm

Here's more:

"Meanwhile the Princess of Wales, who is recuperating from abdominal surgery, was not supposed to be seen at all. It didn’t quite go to plan. Two images of Kate emerged which served to alarm and enrage Kensington Palace for different reasons. The first was a paparazzi shot of the princess being driven around by her mother, Carole Middleton, which, having been sold to popular American news and gossip websites, promptly went viral.
A second, more innocuous image showed Kate in her role as the Colonel of the Irish Guards on a Ministry of Defence website. The palace brought in the big guns to shoot it down. The Army’s offence? Not the picture per se, but the mere fact that the Army had the temerity to suggest that Kate would be attending a troop review on June 8.
No matter that the date was nearly ten weeks after her anticipated Easter return to duties. The problem appeared to be that Kensington Palace must be allowed to control when and how it makes such announcements, not an organisation as insignificant as the British Army. The Ministry of Defence beat a not-so-hasty retreat, updating its ticketing site later that evening to remove any reference of the princess while she is missing from action."

the Palace’s reluctance to comment on the Princess of Wales’s condition has created a rising sense of panic

Only amongst the nutters on social media.

The rest of the nation realise she's been very seriously ill and respect the decision for her to recuperate in private.

I normally roll my eyes at things like this, but even I think something isn’t quite right. Kate has always been a ‘bounce back’ type of person, wasn’t she photographed about 6 hours after her kids were born in high heels? 3 months is a very long time to be recovering from abdominal surgery, and there have been hardly any updates. It’s far beyond the recovery you would expect for appendicitis, a hysterectomy or similar. No she doesn’t have to disclose anything but as the most photographed royal, it is a bit odd. I wonder what’s going on.

I read thst. You missed the bit straight after where they bigged up Williams solo projects and how hands on he is as a father. Nothing about the usual ' hands on parents stuff where they include Kate. Apparently he does the school run and he helps with the homework. Very odd behaviour from the press.I didn't think there was anything odd about ' rich woman takes a long time off work' until I read that article!

I think the problem is, the Wales's, Kate in particular have curated an image of perfection in all aspects of their lives. Now, things are not so perfect and some of the public think they are hiding away, that there's more too it. As another poster said, this is a woman who stood in public very soon after her babies in full make up and high heels. Totally her choice of course but I found it ridiculous to suggest such perfection when it should be perfectly acceptable to have stayed behind closed doors in her pj's.

I for one think, she's ill, she's entitled to privacy but I do see how their carefully curated perfect image has helped create this s**t storm.

Charles actually looks pretty good and he has learnt I guess, from his parents, that you need to be seen to be believed, and his role is one of stability and reassurance. I appreciate this about him, although I also hope he is not overdoing it.

I don't think Kate 'needs to be seen' while recovering. I also don't think that was her in the photo. I don't think we need intimate details of her health, but a more general bit of information would be good because it's a long absence and they do take pubic money. What I do think is weird, and notable, is the complete lack of actual statement from Kate directly, no thank you to the nation for well wishes, cards and gifts, nothing regarding her father in law's illness, no joint statement from them about that at all. It is unusual and it has been pointed out for weeks so for KP not to put out a statement direct from her tells me she either can't, therefore they cannot speak for her, or she won't.

It's quite a long piece, covering multiple topics, so I'll post on the relevant threads (eg there's a para about the debacle that was uncle Gary)

Here's another tranche relevant to the KP vs BP comms approaches topic, and what's genuinely going on with Kate and William:

"What started as internet chatter about Kate’s “disappearance” from public life has flipped over into the mainstream media, triggered in part by William’s no-show at a memorial for his Greek godfather, the late King Constantine II, last week.
The BBC has called it “a royal dilemma”, the New York Times wrote about “feverish speculation” about Kate’s condition and the LA Times appeared to go one better with a piece about the “frenzy over Kate Middleton’s ‘disappearance’”.
Spain’s El Pais ran a headline which read: “Scant information on the health of Charles III and Kate Middleton, who was seen in a photograph Monday, raises more questions than answers.”
In tabloid magazines in Germany, wild conjecture ranged from Kate being the victim of a domestic abuse attack to being pregnant with twins. Palace aides enacting the strategy of “never complain, never explain” remained undeterred.
In January Kensington Palace announced that Kate had been admitted to hospital for planned abdominal surgery. While the precise nature of her condition was unknown, there was a plea for privacy and guidance that she would not return to public duties before Easter.
Since then, the royal silence has only been punctuated with the occasional murmurings from the Palace that the princess is “doing well” and a handful of public engagements for William.
Kensington Palace has appealed to journalists for calm amid what they have noted is a rising sense of panic about the princess’s condition.
The question being weighed up within the Palace, insiders say, is how the princess will feel when she looks back on this period from a future vantage point and whether she will think “I wish I had put a picture out” or whether, if she does release a picture, she will have the regret of thinking “I wish I had prioritised my recovery”.
“The guidance hasn’t changed,” a Kensington Palace source said. “We made it clear that the princess would be unlikely to return before Easter and that’s what’s happening.”
The source added that William was “more focused on his work than on social media”. Yet people are beginning to ask if there is a disconnect between the type of work he feels he ought to do and that which is expected of him by the public.
Palace insiders say that his view of the monarchy does not require him to be cutting ribbons up and down the country in the same style of work carried out by his late grandmother Queen Elizabeth or his aunt, the Princess Royal.
The late Queen knew that as a member of the royal family you “have to be seen to be believed”.
Never was the mantra more true than in the age of social media, where the vacuum is filled by online platforms where unnamed users can publish all sorts of lurid rumours."

It is weird. I'm not sure how much longer the dominant types on forums like this are going to be able to keep writing anyone who asks questions off as a "nutter".

The most positive scenario I've concocted is that she and the kids have been moved to a place of safety, possibly because of some risk identified by the security services. But, like most people, I'm just clutching at straws.

Look at it this way…..people are talking about the RF and they are once again high in the public consciousness and that’s exactly what they need/want.

yes some article was saying a 'source' has said William has done the school run morning and afternoon every day since this wife has been ill. Every day was definitely included deliberately.

It’s woeful isn’t it. The woman is ill. Leave her alone.

Kate comes across as totally non arrogant and very nice, therefore if she is totally out of sight despite knowing how concerned people are about her it will be for a very good reason. Whatever is going on with her either physically or mentally I hope she is okay. I really like the Princess x

why are you clutching at straws??

she isn’t well and she and her family have decided she needs recuperate away from the public eye.

The kids are at school as normal.

Oh come on she’s a member of the Royal Family. Nobody is asking for photos and an interview from her sickbed plus a copy of her medical records, just confirmation (or a loose pointer) as to the issue and recovery timescale. She willingly entered royal life (unless most of the rest), it’s disingenuous to say you can’t understand why the public are entitled to know anything. Personally I think it is something serious but they have spaced out the timing of announcements with the king’s cancer, to avoid a double whammy in the news and alarming the public

It’s increasingly obvious that the Times now has a tabloid editor and is heading downmarket into celebrity tittle-tattle in order to compete with the Mail & attract more female readers. It would be interesting to hear what their proper journalists think of this, which will quickly trash their brand. What a shame.

Oh that’s a very interesting theory. Something totally separate from her health. I’d not thought of that.

I agree. Although they still have Janice Turner fighting on re trans rights and hiring people bullied out of The Guardian.

Confirmation of the issue? Christ, abdominal surgery has been given as the reason. Do people want to know exactly what the op was? Maybe she had a prolapse repaired? Maybe she had a bowel resection. Something that most of us wouldn't want to discuss or have widely known while we are still dealing with the recovery. I'm the same age and need a rectocele and cystocele repair and when it happens the only people to know will be my husband and medical team and my employer will just know I am having surgery.
I don't even care about the royals at all, I'm a republican but for fuck sake nobody needs to know anything more than has been said.

My favorite conspiracy is that she donated a kidney to Charles.....

Oh fgs give it rest 🤦🏼‍♀️

I’ll start by saying I agree she has an absolute right to privacy whilst recuperating, but I agree that the comms have been weird, especially agree with the point above that she hasn’t sent a direct quote herself saying thank you for well wishes etc.

And I agree that the King has properly outshone them in the way he has responded.

Quite possibly everything we've been told is true and she is ill, but it would have to be much more serious than we've been led to believe for her to disappear from the public eye completely for...well...it's looking like at least 6 months, given the snappy KP response to the trooping of the colour announcement.

In the 13 or so years she's been a royal, whether she's just given birth, or it's christmas day, she's tended to give the press what they want so they'll leave her alone the rest of the time, so it's no wonder people are puzzled by this complete media blackout.

I'm the same age and need a rectocele and cystocele repair and when it happens the only people to know will be my husband and medical team and my employer will just know I am having surgery

The country is her employer.

Exactly.

And the country knows she’s had surgery. What’s your point?