Kate Middleton's Absence From The Public Eye Has Everyone Talking About Meghan Markle
As royal watchers continue to wonder about Kate Middleton's whereabouts, others are coming to Meghan Markle's defense amid the media's apparent double standard.
On January 17, 2024, Kensington Palace released the stunning news that Catherine, Princess of Wales, underwent "planned abdominal surgery" that would put her out of commission for more than 10 weeks. While her father-in-law, King Charles III, returned to his duties only one month after beginning treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer, the princess is reportedly recuperating at home and the palace is keeping mum about the nature of her health issues. In fact, we were worried about Kate when William, Prince of Wales, skipped a royal memorial for his own godfather, but again insiders offered assurances the princess "continues to be doing well," according to CNN.
Royals supporters have been respectful of Kate's wish not to go into detail about her medical condition. Among the Instagram comments on the palace's announcement, someone wrote, "Everyone has a right to privacy. Leave the princess to heal." Another agreed, "Whatever the princess has had done, it's her right to keep things out of the headlines. Isn't this what Princess Diana longed for?" But, over on X, formerly Twitter, users are pointing out yet another double standard between media coverage of the princess and that of her sister-in-law, the Duchess of Sussex. One user exploded, "I don't get too involved in Royal Family drama but it's absolutely f***ing wild how many Royal stans have told me today that Kate Middleton deserves privacy and speculation is rude. Did y'all forget what you did to Meghan Markle???"
Meghan Markle has often been criticized for going under the radar
The eyebrow-raisers have a point: When it comes to seeking personal privacy, the press is more sympathetic to Kate Middleton than Meghan Markle. When the duchess was still a working royal, she was labeled a whiner for suggesting her mental health was being affected by tabloid intrusion. Yet even away from the demands of palace life, Meghan gets criticized for wanting to go under the radar. In February 2022, OK! made a fuss over the fact that Meghan didn't join Prince Harry at the Super Bowl when he attended with his cousin, Princess Eugenie, and her husband, Jack Brooksbank. One year later, when the Sussexes and Brooksbanks were spotted at a quiet dinner, the outlet noted "the disappearing Duchess" hadn't been seen for weeks.
After the prince dropped his 2023 memoir, "Spare," which contained startling revelations galore, Meghan opted once again to remain low-key for a time while her husband gave interviews. A royals columnist for the News of Australia snarked, "[S]ince Harry's Big Book Blitzkrieg began earlier this month, the world has not seen hide nor perfect hair of the 41-year-old. ...So, where oh where has Meghan gone of late? It can't take that much time to stock up on carrot sticks and camomile tea bags."
Addressing the discrepancy, an X user commented, "To all the people vehemently defending Kate Middleton's privacy, do Meghan Markle next... [W]hen [Markle] got a salary from the [British] people, you said they don't get private lives. Now...?"