There have been an untold number of well-publicized royal scandals over the years, many points in history where the ongoings of the British monarchy have dominated newspaper headlines and whipped the general public into a frenzy.
The current state of affairs must surely rank among the most tantalizing. Not only has the whole saga regarding Kate Middleton’s recovery from a mysterious abdominal procedure captivated all and sundry since January, but King Charles also received a shock cancer diagnosis. That’s not to mention the ever-present controversy where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are concerned.
In most other decades the reigning monarch’s fight against cancer would be the focal point of the media attention. It speaks volumes, then, that the maelstrom of speculation surrounding Kate has virtually pushed all other topics into the shadows.
It could be argued that the royals only have themselves to blame for the intense scrutiny placed upon Kate’s recovery. Aside from confirming that the Princess of Wales was undergoing a “planned abdominal procedure” in January, adding that she would be out of action until around Easter time, the Palace has been thrifty to the point of arousing suspicion with its updates.
Just what Kate was suffering from that required surgery remains unknown to the public. Compounding the sense of confusion was the fact that Kate – until last week – hadn’t been seen since Christmas.
And if the vacuum of concrete information brought the pot of speculation to boiling point, the debacle surrounding the image of Kate and her children released to mark Mother’s Day in the UK blew the lid off with such force that the various conspiracy theories suddenly became of interest worldwide.
Among the mostly hotly debated possibilities was that Kate and Prince William were experiencing marital troubles, the likes of which had left Kate with no option but to withdraw from the spotlight until a solution could be found.
