Kate Middleton tried to fool the internet. The internet remains undefeated.
Cue a credibility crisis for the Princess of Wales and the royals
When I wrote last week that Kate Middleton and the royals didn't understand the internet I did not expect them to course correct based on my advice, but I also didn’t expect the Princess of Wales to prove my point by releasing a doctored ‘proof of life’ photo either.
I promise that highly flammable has not rebranded as a royal newsletter, but I just can’t resist following up because the PR disaster that I outlined in the last edition is now a major credibility crisis for Kate and the royals. An own-goal so spectacular it will be taught in the what-not-to-do module in public relations school. And it all comes back to my main point: Kate and the royals have no clue - zero - how online audiences think or behave.
As regular readers will know, Google Trends never lies when it comes to what’s popping, and this graph is the perfect visualisation of how Kate’s attempt to tamper down gossip and conspiracy theories by releasing a shoddily Photoshopped composite photograph (shown above) backfired spectacularly.
For those that haven’t been following along, Kate’s whereabouts and wellbeing became the subject of gossip several weeks ago after some online commentators noted that she had not been seen in public since Christmas Day. Because Kensington Palace had already issued a statement explaining that the Princess of Wales was having “planned abdominal surgery” and would return to public duties after Easter, the noise was confined to a niche online audience.
Then two weeks ago Kate’s husband, William, pulled out of a memorial service because of a “personal matter”. His unexplained absence during Kate’s already “mysterious” sick leave acted as fuel for the fire and quickly commentators on Twitter/X and TikTok were theorising that Kate wasn’t recuperating but instead “missing”.
Speculation reached new heights last week and prompted my post on the inadequacies of Kensington Palace’s ‘never complain, never explain’ PR strategy. By keeping quiet, aside from the occasional vague statement, Kate and her team created an information vacuum. And because she wasn't telling her story, others did it for her. Had she had a Brazilian Butt Lift? Is William cheating? Is she dead? These were just a few of the wild theories that flourished online.
Pressure mounted as the week went on, likely not helped by grainy paparazzi pictures of Kate being driven in a car appearing on American news sites. We can only imagine what level of panic was reached inside Kensington Palace as the public increasingly questioned where and how Kate was. The demand was so great that the princess and her team decided to post their own picture on Instagram to mark Mother’s Day and to reassure the world that she was OK.
For an hour or so it quelled speculation. In the picture she is smiling and shown embracing her three children. The caption said it was taken by the Prince of Wales this year.
At first glance it screamed ‘happy family’ and ‘nothing to see here’. But then the internet took a closer look. I’m loathed to call them sleuths, as this was basic stuff. They noticed Kate wasn’t wearing her wedding ring. There were also unexplained issues with the image including a misaligned sleeve and an out of place zip. Within hours experts had determined that the picture had been changed using Photoshop and likely was a composite of multiple images. One armchair detective, Allyn Aston, compellingly put the case that the pre-Photoshopped picture had actually been taken in November last year.
Far from dampening the fire, the altered image poured gasoline everywhere. By Sunday evening major picture agencies including AP and Reuters, issued kill notices and removed the picture from their systems because the adjustments contravened their editorial policies.
Then on Monday morning Kate herself took to Instagram to own up to editing the image and apologised “for any confusion”.
Kate’s reputation as a reliable and dutiful royal took decades to build and it crumbled in hours. It’s hard to know whether she was trying to deceive or was misguided, but it’s clear that she never considered or had any grasp of just how savvy online audiences are. The commentators who first questioned her “disappearance” are cynical in nature and tend towards hyper-vigilance. Some may even have an agenda because they support her in-laws Harry and Meghan, and Kate has been pitched as their enemy. What's for sure is that this group were never going to be duped by Kate’s amateur-hour edits. And in any event it is a fool who tries to trick the internet. As the saying goes “the internet is undefeated”.
Kate and the royals are now in the grip of a credibility crisis that has many questioning whether they can believe anything that comes out of Kensington Palace. CNN and other news outlets are reviewing historic images that were issued by Kate, William and their teams, and I understand some British media editors are reassessing their cosy relationship with the royals too, given that it’s one largely based on trust.
The princess could have largely avoided any of this if she had been less opaque, thought beyond the mainstream media, understood conspiracy culture and appreciated the power of online audiences and social platforms. They didn't learn that lesson the first time so let’s hope they’ve figured it out now.
What do you think of ‘waterKate’? Has she learned a tough lesson? Would you let the princess do your retouching? Let me know on the comments below…
This week I’ve been…
OBSESSING OVER: Zendaya never missing on the red carpet. After serving look after look on the press tour for Dune 2 she looked immaculate at the Oscars. My best dressed of the night by a mile.
WATCHING: The someoneiworkwith TikTok account which takes voyeurism to new levels. The account purports to be managed by someone who has a crush on a colleague and so far they’ve posted five candid videos of their unnamed male colleague, with one racking up more than six million views. The account bio reads: “I don't have the guts to ask him out so here I am.” Okkkkkkk!
READING: Cosmopolitan magazine’s The Sharenting Reckoning special where they take a deep dive into the shady world of parent influencers and the children whose lives are exploited for clicks. Fortesa Latifi interviews a former child star about her experience of growing up on camera. Grim stuff.
highly flammable is produced and written by Rachel Richardson. She’s a content creator, commentator and consultant at Beginning, Middle and End. Want more? Check out Threads, Twitter/X and Instagram.
WATERKATE!