The conspiracy theories and negative backlash being aimed at the Princess of Wales since her surgery in January were slammed by Whoopi Goldberg during a debate with her TV co-hosts on The View.
Public speculation and discourse surrounding Kate, her health and her whereabouts have spiked since she admitted to editing a photograph of herself that was released to mark Mother’s Day on Sunday.
The princess attempted to combat backlash against the portrait of herself and her three children, which was particularly significant as it was the first official photo of the royal since she stepped out of the public eye to recover from abdominal surgery in January.
After photo agencies issued “kill” notices to news outlets to pull the image over fears it violated manipulation guidelines, Kate admitted that like many “amateur photographers I occasionally experiment with editing” and apologized for any “confusion” it caused.
Samir Hussein/WireImage
Later that same day, on March 11, the royal was photographed in a car with Prince William in Windsor. The paparazzi shot didn’t clearly capture Kate’s face and a number of social media users presented further (mostly debunked) theories that this too was edited.
On Wednesday, Goldberg and co-hosts Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin, Joy Behar and Alyssa Farah debated the ongoing drama and speculation surrounding Kate, including the new paparazzi photo and theories.
When Hostin highlighted a discrepancy in the brickwork shown in the new paparazzi photo, which she suggested was evidence of “photoshop,” Goldberg interjected that “all this does is show that you don’t know what goes on in buildings. Have you never seen a building that has two different brick [patterns]?”
Goff Photos, the agency that distributed the photograph told Entertainment Tonight that the “image has been cropped and lightened, nothing has been doctored.”
As the debate continued, former White House communications director Farah highlighted that there was a genuine public interest element in Kate, despite the conspiracies.
“There is a reason we care about this,” she said. “Not to make it heavy, but we know the treatment around [Princess] Diana, we know what Meghan Markle and Prince Harry went through and now you have a princess—a queen in waiting—that hasn’t been seen and the stories just don’t pan out. She could resolve this, the palace could, in two minutes by putting her direct to camera for two minutes…”
To this, Goldberg again objected, asking why Kate should have to do this.
“People do this to you,” she said to the panel. “You haven’t had this done to you. It’s our fault because we bought into this. When you buy into this stuff, when they start doing it to your family or they start doing it to your kids it’s not cute. It’s not fun and it really irritates me.”
Despite this, Behar and Haines expressed distrust in the royals over the unfolding drama, telling viewers: “I don’t trust the royal family.”
Newsweek approached Kensington Palace via email for comment.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek‘s royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek‘s The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.