The Princess of Wales’ new video revealing that her chemotherapy treatment has ended has been welcomed by many.
The message that Catherine is on the road to recovery is a cheerful one, though it makes clear that the road ahead will be long.
One or two observers have criticized the video for its unfocused sentimentality (cornfields, sun shining through trees, soulful background music) and suggested that we are being manipulated.
What we think of the three-minute film may not be of the utmost importance. Personally, I found it a little cloying, but I was prepared to put aside my reservations because of the encouraging news that Catherine is on the mend. One would have to be a hard-hearted and rather mean-spirited Republican to disapprove of it greatly.
One or two observers have criticized the video for its unfocused sentimentality.
However, I am deeply concerned, not so much by the video itself, but by the way in which the Prince and Princess of Wales have taken control of their own image and supplanted traditional media. This development seems to me to be potentially dangerous for the future of the monarchy. Let me explain.
Catherine is passionate about photography and has long posted images of her family that in a previous generation would probably have been taken by professional photographers, if at all.
It is not surprising that these images are so empathetic to their subjects, to the point of being idealized. At least on one occasion they have been “retouched” (that is, manipulated to favor the children portrayed).
On Mother’s Day in March, Catherine posted a photograph of herself, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, all of them radiantly beautiful and absolutely happy, which aroused the suspicions of several photo agencies. The Princess of Wales quickly confessed that she had edited the image and apologized.
Two weeks later, she posted a video announcing with some dignity that she was in the early stages of treatment following a cancer diagnosis. Until very recently, the royals’ press aides would have given such information to the public in a deadpan manner.
William and Kate have taken control of their own public relations, offering an idealised, almost fairy-tale version of themselves, argues our writer Stephen Glover
Kate’s video was certainly moving, as it contained terrible news, but it did cast further doubt on the authenticity of the photograph from two weeks earlier in which she and her children appeared so blissfully happy.
And now we have another video in which Catherine, William and their children appear completely delirious, as if they have eaten too many magic mushrooms discovered in their enchanted, mottled forest. At one point, a smiling William even gives his wife a kiss on the cheek.
In one sense, the video is intimate, as we are briefly invited into the heart of a seemingly perfect family. But of course, the invitation is made on the Prince and Princess of Wales’s own terms. It doesn’t begin to answer the question such intimacy is sure to raise: namely, what exactly was wrong with Catherine, and how long will the “road to healing and full recovery” likely take?
What is happening is nothing short of a revolution. William and Kate have taken control of their own public relations, offering an idealised, almost fairy-tale version of themselves and their family. The mainstream media, which might be expected to ask some probing questions, is largely off-script.
Of course, one can understand why the prince and princess want to “own” their story, which they can manipulate as they please. It’s what modern celebrities like to do. And it’s not unreasonable to speculate that the heir to the throne and his wife harbor a deep distrust of the established media.
Before her marriage, Catherine was sometimes harassed by the paparazzi. William, like his brother Harry, is convinced that his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, was hounded to death by the paparazzi before her fatal accident in 1997. William has no fondness for the media and is likely to be drawn to a calculated strategy to relegate them to the background.
In their desire to present themselves to the world on their own terms, William and Harry are strikingly alike. The difference is that while the irascible Duke of Sussex rails against the press, the wiser, calmer Prince of Wales keeps his opinions to himself and merely works quietly to avoid the media.
It is ironic that Harry has rebuked both his father and brother for being too close to the press, even though, in reality, William and Catherine are seeking to neutralise them.
Will it work? In a celebrity-obsessed world, where TikTok and similar platforms reign supreme and many young people have the attention span of a gnat, the approach taken by the Prince and Princess of Wales seems to have a chance of success. Why bother with traditional media when the Welsh can present themselves however they want on a billion smartphones?
But I think this is a dangerous strategy. Most of us are not TikTok fans. More to the point, the British people do not want a supposedly perfect, imaginary monarchy. They expect members of the Royal Family to be real, down-to-earth, recognizable human beings who do not inhabit a fantasy world of endless smiles and eternal laughter.
In the end, the Royal Family survives and is right in the public eye because it is scrutinised. And that is what the mainstream media has done, certainly not always fairly, but for the most part rigorously. If the Royal Family is allowed to present itself as a totally sanitised but untouchable institution, disaster is likely to follow.
Harry and Meghan are very comical and exasperating characters, who strive to create their own image of perfection in California. However, it doesn’t really matter much what they do, because they have become so peripheral to the monarchy. But the Prince and Princess of Wales are the future.
Maybe their strategy isn’t entirely calculated. They may have been genuinely affected by the sentimentality of our times. At the end of her voiceover in the last video, Kate says: “To all those who continue their own journey against cancer, I stand with you, arm in arm, hand in hand.” This can’t be true. It’s too much.
Am I a curmudgeon? A dinosaur, even? I hope not. I doubt the British people would happily accept a magical monarchy that prioritises sentiment over common sense and promotes a false image of itself imbued with happiness and laughter.
I am glad Catherine is on the mend. She is a talented woman and we are very lucky to have her. We are also lucky to have such a balanced and dedicated heir to the throne in William.
But the monarchy will be weakened if the public comes to believe it is being fed a fairytale narrative that has been fuelled by the Prince and Princess of Wales beyond the scrutiny of the media.