Controversies have been the British royal family's proverbial middle name, best friend in spirit. Never truly leaving the family's side and only assuming bigger better roles with time. Lately, the controversies have graduated to conspiracy theories, the one likely to make the makers of Netflix series Crown lacking in imagination.
A terminal illness, a mystery surgery, a scandalous extra marital affair, a divorce, a split, a photoshopped picture and even a death have all done the rounds of British tabloids and social media in the past few months itself.
After the Palace announced that King Charles is suffering from cancer, Kate Middleton was also rushed into a " planned abdominal surgery" in January. Her disappearance ever since from the royal duties and the palace life has sparked theories abound, the most significant one concerning her marriage with Prince William being on the rocks, again due to his affair with Rose Hanbury.
A picture worth a thousand wild guesses
Fast forward to Sunday and the entire tabloid grapevine was directed towards the first official photo of Catherine, the Princess of Wales, since her surgery. The photo was pulled back from circulation soon after it was shared because the image looked to be manipulated. "Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months," read the caption, along with the edited image, signed by Kate.
The pic and the post were shared with a message congratulating women on Mother's Day, celebrated in the U.K on March 10. The official social media page of Royals later released a statement from Kate, wherein she admitted, "to editing the photo" and apologizing "for any confusion" caused.
"Like many amateur photographers, I occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused," read a statement from her. Only the image did not cause confusion but rather full on conspiracy concerning Kate. Where is she? Are Kate and William headed for divorce? Is Kate dead?
Is it something concerning the King?
Meanwhile, the King has been in the news ever since his prostate surgery was performed at The London Clinic. Soon afterwards the Buckingham Palace confirmed rumors of the King being diagnosed with cancer. While KIng Charles' scaled back public appearances were only expected, lately there have been increased speculations concerning his health and including social media mentions of flags at half-mast in government buildings.
On March 15, King Charles was last seen departing Windsor Castle soon after receiving the news of the demise of his longtime friend Ian Farquhar. Before this, on March 6, the King had a video call with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, among a few other royal meetings.
What truly did not help amid ongoing concerns, is the British media expecting "an extremely important announcement," anytime. According to the latest set of reports, the BBC Events unit has been notified to "stay alert for an extremely important announcement from the Royal Family at any moment." in the wake of the ongoing health crisis. Again, whose health, many wondered? The reports got so out of hand that Buckingham Palace was forced to address and deny Russian media's reports of King Charles III's demise on Monday.
