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 b…