It started in a very moving and powerful way. A simple and powerful message from Catherine.
‘As summer comes to a close, I cannot express to you the relief I feel at finally completing my chemotherapy treatment.
‘The last nine months have been incredibly hard on us as a family. Life as we know it can change in an instant and we have had to find a way to navigate turbulent waters and uncharted paths.’
A few simple words that we were all looking forward to hearing. Ugh! I was crying.
What started out as a heartfelt message, a tonic, a relief after all the months of turmoil, ended up in an advert for Boden, writes Liz Jones. Pictured: a still from the Waleses’ video
But suddenly and without any explanation, what started as a heartfelt message, a tonic, a relief after all the months of confusion, turned into a Boden ad. Or something Marc Jacobs could use to sell perfume.
There were trees. And ferns, lots of ferns. Dappled sunlight. The kind of child’s play among farm machinery and ploughed fields that seemed to place us not in 2024 but around World War II, especially because of the special effects of old-fashioned film cameras. Maybe that was the message. Kate has been through hell, she has fought a battle. And she is winning.
And yet the three-minute, elegant, soft-focus, “highly choreographed” (those were the words used by the usually fawning ITV News at Ten) video released yesterday (Monday afternoon) was surely as misjudged as the 1969 documentary that attempted to portray the royal family as “normal”, failing so miserably that the Queen ensured it was never seen again.
The Princess of Wales says it’s been “incredibly tough” but the problem is it all feels like a photogenic walk in the park, writes Liz Jones
If that documentary following a year in the monarch’s life was accused of ruining the royal mystique by making them look like any other “modern” family, this new video was trying to do the opposite. Portraying the Waleses as hyper-real, perfect, retro. Like something out of an Enid Blyton novel. But why on earth? A royal portrait would show the children on their phones, no doubt. Catherine would look tired and pensive, not perfect with brown hair.
He says it has been “incredibly hard” but the problem is that it all feels like a photogenic stroll through the park. Only William seems almost real. Reclining on various blankets or on the sand, he appears clumsy, as if he had been placed there with his limbs carefully arranged like a puppet.
Catherine, towards the end of her voiceover (also odd, as it makes the video feel like a wildlife documentary), talks about walking side by side, hand in hand with other cancer sufferers, but in this short film she has never seemed more distant. It doesn’t help that her words are backed by a slow, “emotional” piano soundtrack.
Cancer is a messy, flawed, devastating subject. After all the mental health initiatives and their work emphasizing the importance of shaping young minds, this strange, oddball film feels like a failure from a family that was once so protective of their privacy. It has a hint of what Meghan and Harry might make up: Hallmark, cringeworthy, cliché. It’s not real or from the heart at all.
How can we take William seriously after seeing his bare legs wrapped around his wife? Liz Jones writes:
Wouldn’t it have meant more if Catherine had spoken out about the type of cancer she has, potentially saving hundreds, if not thousands, of lives? Perhaps a video of her meeting other women with the same diagnosis? Where was the Catherine on that bench in Windsor, baring her soul, telling us about her diagnosis? Replaced by a pipe dream. An ideal. An illusion.
Who at Kensington Palace thought this was the right approach? There were a lot of serious opinion pieces in the papers yesterday, saying Kate had taken control, driven the narrative. But it all seems out of place, and the public is taking notice. After a bizarre video of her elatedly leaving a produce shop, and beaming appearances at the Trooping of the Colour and Wimbledon, we suddenly have this torrent of intimacy that, to me, to many of us, seems a little… desperate. Why did they make something that looks like a Vogue backstage video? A post on X: “This is not what cancer looks like. Other patients will think, ‘Well, I’m doing it all wrong. ’”
Others commented: ‘Why the costume changes, soft music, slow motion?’
“I think the intention was to show that they are a happy family. But if you have to try so hard…”
“It looks like a Center Parcs advert.”
“I can’t imagine Charles and Camilla posting something like that when he gets the go-ahead.”
In my opinion, the portrayal of our next king was also wrong. How can we take William seriously after seeing his bare legs, hugging his wife? The monarchy is hanging by a thread, please don’t make us believe we are too credible. This was a movie that is too easily dismissed as manipulative by those who don’t like royalty. Of course, I am a staunch supporter of royalty, but even I don’t want another Instagram account feeding us fantasy, as if we were baby birds, not adults with our own problems.
I’m not against tactile. I loved the images of Diana hugging her children and laughing. But those images were spontaneous, they weren’t choreographed at all.
