A little daylight finally enters the magic.
A smiling Princess of Wales is spotted – and filmed – looking happy and healthy during a shopping trip with William near their Windsor home.
So much for the idiot skeptics.
For once, a couple who like to protect their privacy don’t seem to mind being photographed – by a member of the public on their iPhone who had spotted them in the bread aisle of Windsor Farm Shop.
The Mother’s Day portrait edited by the Princess of Wales to create the perfect family photo
Will this obviously genuine observation silence the crazy conspiracy theorists? Or the strange wearers of “Free Kate” T-shirts (a strange nod to the strict US legal regime that once constrained pop star Britney Spears)?
Not completely. After all, it’s the Internet.
But the new video footage will go a long way toward returning the national conversation to sanity.
I have sympathy for Wales, who has steadfastly refused to release any updates on Kate’s health.
The Kensington Palace press office announced that she had undergone abdominal surgery and was unlikely to return to royal duties before Easter. Nothing more.
Surely some things are private, one might think. Why feed the beast?
Kate alongside William leaving Windsor Castle just hours after apologizing for digitally altering Mother’s Day photo
Furthermore, wasn’t it the great constitutionalist Walter Bagehot who warned of the need to protect the “magic” of royalty from intrusive daylight?
If Kensington Palace was rightly reluctant, it was also clumsy.
The sloppy handling of the Welsh’s private lives helped create a media storm with its own global momentum.
Which is why I’m glad that, a little late today, William and Kate seem to have heeded the wise words of the late Queen Elizabeth: you have to see it to believe it.
Kate had not been seen since Christmas Day at Sandringham Church.
Context is important here, of course.
Driven by the loss of his mother, Diana, William’s dance with the media was long and difficult. Who could blame him for keeping a fierce guard over his young family and his private life?
In contrast, the king continued his official duties despite his cancer treatment, posting photos and video footage throughout his journey.
Yet most people have understood the reasons why Wales remains silent.
What did they do not understand was William’s sudden and unexpected decision to absent himself from last month’s memorial service for King Constantine II at St. George’s Chapel.
The prince withdrew at extremely short notice, even though Constantine had been his godfather and William was due to give a reading.
The late Queen Elizabeth would never have abandoned her engagement so abruptly. This is definitely not the kind of behavior we expect from the royal family.
Elizabeth’s cousin, Prince Michael of Kent, showed an admirable sense of duty by attending this same memorial service despite the death of his son-in-law Thomas Kingston just days earlier.
So why did William disappear?
All we got was silence. And that, I believe, is what first opened the floodgates of speculation about Kate – and allowed a series of perverse lies to breed online.
The Welsh will survive all this. Despite occasional stumbles, they have proven as resilient as their popularity.
William and Kate are the stars of the royal family today and will be in the future.
After a series of own goals, however, there is less confidence elsewhere. This has not been the finest hour of the British monarchy.
Take the Mother’s Day portrait.
Why haven’t the Welsh made good use of Andrew Parsons, the seasoned professional photographer already working alongside them?
Tasked with chronicling the lives of William and Kate, Parsons’ mission is to create an archive not only for the present, but also for history.
It’s unimaginable that they should have gone for a DIY Photoshopped Mother’s Day photo.
Once again, the contrast with King Charles is clear.
Like his late mother, the king has a keen eye for the smallest details. He insists on perfection when dealing with historical documents.
Dissatisfied with a series of portraits taken recently in various military regalia, he insisted that they be completely redone by a renowned studio photographer.
It cost a pretty penny. But for the king, the message was clear: haste cannot be tolerated.
Each image, each information broadcast must be scrutinized in detail beforehand.
William’s Mother’s Day portrait crossed the line. Yet it was released as an official photograph for distribution by Kensington Palace officials.
The cabinet was attending the thanksgiving service at Windsor Castle in honor of the late King Constantine of Greece, from which Prince William withdrew for personal reasons.
So someone – not a recovering Kate – should have taken responsibility.
Kensington Palace should have issued an immediate apology and published the original, instead of throwing Kate under the bus.
In recent days, I have heard officials at Buckingham Palace say that this is a “Kensington Palace problem.”
Fake!
When the world starts comparing the British monarchy with the North Korean media, then it is a royal problem.
And this is a question that the entire institution must address.
Perhaps it is time to look back to the future in the way royal communications are managed.
When I started covering this story in the early 1990s, there was only one Buckingham Palace press secretary who reported directly to the monarch.
There was no rival operation for the Prince of Wales.
The royal press secretary was in charge. Nothing came out unless it was sorted out through him.
He had a deputy and several assistant press secretaries assigned to different members of the royal family.
This was a team with a unique approach – something we have sorely missed in recent weeks.
Nobody claims it’s easy. This requires a careful dance involving intimacy, visibility and authenticity.
But it must be carried out firmly, with tact, experience and competence.
I, for one, was delighted to see the princess come out and look both happy and healthy – walking briskly, carrying her own bags. I believe the furore is now coming to an end.
But there are lessons in all of this.
In an age where technology blurs the boundaries of truth, the royal mark must remain intact. It must be authentic.
In authenticity lies the trust of the kingdom; a bond once broken becomes a chasm that is difficult to bridge.