British monarchy faces image crisis as Duchess Kate battles cancer
The British royal family has been going through a difficult time. The scandal involving Prince Andrew made headlines in the media, as did the notorious "Megxit." The concealment of Duchess Kate's illness only deepened the image crisis of the world's most famous monarchy.
5 June 2024 13:18
In recent months, the world has been concerned about Duchess Kate's disappearance. An announcement on the official monarchy website stated that the future queen underwent abdominal surgery and would not fulfil her duties until Easter.
The Britons' favourite disappeared from public life for several months, causing a wave of speculation. Rumours surfaced that the Duchess had an affair. Buckingham Palace did not comment on the media reports. In March, the Duchess announced that she was fighting cancer. The monarchy's concealment of Kate's illness caused a significant image crisis deepening over the last six years.
Crisis after crisis
In the 1980s, the British royal family was considered a model. Everything changed after the tragic death of Princess Diana, who died in a car accident shortly after formalising her divorce from Prince Charles. After the death of the "queen of hearts," the monarchy took great care of its public image.
For the next 20 years, they built the image of a respected, loving family. Until 2017, when the scandal with Prince Andrew broke out. The youngest son of Queen Elizabeth allegedly had sexual relations with a minor on Jeffrey Epstein's island.
Three years later, another blow struck the monarchy. Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan resigned from their royal duties. They revealed the behind-the-scenes details of their departure in the documentary "Harry and Meghan." This event further divided the royal family and led to a conflict between the brothers.
"It turned out that with the doors to the family's privacy left ajar by Harry and Meghan, the public worldwide wants to know more and more about the internal situation within the family, often seeking a 'second layer' by inferring things that were not said," explains Anna Orkisz, author of the podcast "Royalty" in an interview with Newsweek.
The palace struggles with the crisis. It's about Duchess Kate
The disappearance of Duchess Kate further marred the image of the British monarchy. "The messages from the Palace were terse and often left many questions. Leaving people without answers for so long led to hundreds of conspiracy theories," adds Anna Orkisz.
"The Palace couldn't balance between protecting the Duchess's privacy and the public's craving for information," explains the podcaster.
There was speculation that the Prince had an affair with Rose Hanbury, with whom he supposedly had romantic relations years ago. There were also rumours about Duchess Kate's relationship with a deceased royal family member. Some even claimed that the Duchess was dead and the published recording was generated by artificial intelligence.
