#KateGate normalizing conspiracy theories

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This article was published 16/03/2024 (917 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This scandal has everything.

A “secret” medical procedure. A disappearing princess. Rumours of infidelity. A weird PR gaffe involving a “doctored” photo.

The question at the crux of all of it: where’s Kate?

I am, of course, talking about Catherine, Princess of Wales (a.k.a. Kate Middleton) and the social media frenzy that is #KateGate.

Allow me to attempt to catch you up. On Jan. 17, Kate Middleton went in for a “planned abdominal surgery” and the statement said she would be unlikely to resume public duties until Easter. On Jan 27, Kensington Palace announced she was home, recovering. No photos were released and Kate hadn’t been seen since Christmas. Conspiracy theories and memes began to erupt online.

Things reached a fever pitch, however, on March 10. Kensington Palace released a weirdly altered family photo of Kate and her three children, shared on U.K. Mother’s Day. After The Associated Press released a rare “kill notice” for the photo, Kate (allegedly) posted this statement to socials: “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day. C.”

I’m sorry, you’re a who that dabbles in what now? Is this the best the palace could come up with? Kate Middleton firing up Adobe Photoshop while she’s trying to convalesce from abdominal surgery is, quite possibly, the least believable detail in this whole saga.

I’m guilty of falling down this rabbit hole, too. I have as much connection to the royals as any other English-speaking Canadian woman whose middle name is Elizabeth and who watches The Crown. And yet.

Part of the fascination, I expect, is that humans love puzzles, and they are particularly beguiled by people or things that disappear, whether they are princesses or airliners. Take, for example, the speculation surrounding Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared 10 years ago this month. Yes, that story was horrific and scary but also…where is the plane?

To that end, my favourite of the Middleton theories is what I’m calling the Girlboss to Gone Girl Theory: that she has simply said “nuts to this” and is quitting the Royal Family, possibly because of Prince William’s alleged affair with someone called Lady Rose Hanbury, Marchioness of Cholmondeley.

Middleton is nothing if not a symbol of duty and sacrifice, a capital-W Wife and capital-M Mother, so there’s something extra appealing about the Reliably Polished, Compliant Woman Who #HasItAll Blows Up Life narrative — especially, I think, among millennial women.

Middleton’s is a cautionary tale that even if you do play by all the antiquated rules, you’ll still be called a “chaos-bringer of humiliation and mockery” by an Australian columnist, so why bother playing?

For what it’s worth, I think the reason she’s been out of the public eye is probably something banal and medical and we should let this woman rest.

What’s truly fascinating about #KateGate and the way it’s playing out online is how deftly it braids together several modern anxieties, including our increasing inability to trust what we see, thanks in large part to AI.

But there’s also how our brains have been warped by true-crime content, which I think is driving the ways in which people are engaging with this story. Everyone’s a detective now, with their proverbial cork boards and red string, trying to solve for an X that they simultaneously claim to not even care about.

I’d argue this is dehumanizing — and it is — but we’re not, nor have ever been, supposed to view the royals as real people. Which is also why a princess who appeared in heels to greet her public after giving birth — a worse thing I cannot imagine — is probably not going to be transparent about nor “normalize” her “healing journey.” The royals are not “normal.”

They are symbols, concerned with image and curation, curation, curation. That’s why they’ve always been susceptible to projection and rumour. They are easy grist for the gossip mill. And now, for conspiracy theories. We’re used to consuming them as entertainment (see also: the popularity of The Crown).

It’s not all fun and memes, though. Online, everyone is acting as if they’re participating in some sort of fun, entertaining pop culture moment, even though what they are actually doing is spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories online.

With #KateGate we’re seeing, in real time, the mainstreaming of fringe conspiracy theories, at a time in which separating fact from fiction is getting increasingly hard to do and the sheer volume of content makes the narrative that much easier to lose.

The more we let our imaginations run away with us, the more we risk losing the plot on a much larger, scarier scale.

jen.zoratti@winnipegfreepress.com