Scandals Kate Middleton Wishes We'd All Just Forget

The royal family has weathered some of the biggest PR disasters known to man, and somehow, they are still standing. While Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's messy moments have dominated headlines, Princess Catherine hasn't exactly been exempt from scandal; in fact, she's endured plenty of them — and there are some she'd rather we forget. But as it is, the public has a long memory when it comes to impropriety.

Catherine will likely never live down the allegations that she made racist comments about Harry and Meghan Markle's first child, Prince Archie, before he was born. Harry and Meghan previously refrained from publicly revealing the names of the royals who questioned what color Archie's skin would be, but the Dutch version of royal author Omid Scobie's book, "Endgame," named Catherine and King Charles III as the royals who were asking these questions. While Scobie maintains that he never named names in his original work and that Catherine and Charles being ousted as the culprits was a mistake (via BBC). At first, rumor had it that it was a translation mistake, but later, there was talk that the line had been added. We may never fully know what went down in that scandal, but it is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Catherine-centric controversies.

When vacationing at a chateau in France, one would hope that the private property would be, well, private. But Princess Catherine made the dire mistake of sunbathing topless in 2012, and eager paparazzi saw a golden opportunity and took it. Cue nude photos of the British royal appearing in French tabloids shortly after.

The palace had a PR crisis on its hands — the newlywed princess being photographed naked was the last thing the monarchy needed at the time, especially since it had its hands full with Prince Harry's naked photographs not long before that. British publications refrained from publishing the photographs, thanks to an injunction that was put in place as soon as the royals learned of the photographs' existence. "There is a feeling of anger and disbelief about these photographs," a source told Reuters at the time. "We feel there has been a red line crossed with regard to publishing these images." Just when the royals thought matters couldn't get any worse, Donald Trump weighed in with his two cents. "Who wouldn't take Kate's picture and make lots of money if she does the nude sunbathing thing. Come on Kate!" he tweeted at the time.

Prince William and Catherine filed a lawsuit against the tabloid, which they won, with the court ordering the publication to pay the couple £91,000 (approximately $120,000) in damages. "The clandestine way in which these photographs were taken was particularly shocking to us as it breached our privacy," William said in a statement (via The Guardian). Catherine never directly commented on the debacle.

Out of everything that went wrong at Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's wedding, Princess Catherine making the Duchess of Sussex cry will likely go down in history books. Rumor first had it that Meghan made Catherine cry, and it sparked an internet meltdown, with plenty of mud being slung Meghan's way. In one of the most stunning revelations from Prince Harry and Meghan's interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan claimed, "The reverse happened," Meghan clarified to Winfrey. "A few days before the wedding, she was upset about something — yes, the issue was correct, about the flower girl dresses — and it made me cry and it really hurt my feelings."

Meghan detailed how Catherine apologized in the aftermath, but the gesture rang hollow when she allowed the narrative that Meghan made her cry run rampant without setting the record straight. "Everyone in the institution knew it wasn't true," the duchess added. "They really seem to want a narrative of a hero and a villain," she said about the press. Harry also addressed the whole debacle in his tell-all memoir, "Spare," reiterating what Meghan told Winfrey.

Now, this is one scandal that is forever ingrained in royal pundits' minds. Those who'd been oblivious to the British royal family's ongoing existence were forced to remember the monarchy's presence when a Mother's Day photograph featuring Catherine and her children went viral for all the wrong reasons.

The photograph, which was posted to Instagram and sent to various news outlets, had glaring discrepancies indicating that it had been photoshopped — and quite badly at that. Even an untrained eye could spot that something was amiss, and given that Catherine had pulled a weeks-long disappearing act after her abdominal surgery in January 2024, the over-edited photograph sparked conspiracy theories and rumors that set the internet ablaze.

The Daily Mail detailed numerous photoshopping errors, and various media outlets subsequently "killed" the picture, removing it from their platforms. The consensus on why the Princess of Wales felt the need to excessively edit the photograph varied — some thought she was genuinely having some fun with Photoshop and other editing software while others were more skeptical and suspected she was trying to deceive the public. It's still not quite clear why the photo was so heavily edited. Catherine released a statement in which she apologized, writing on X, formerly Twitter, "Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused." The damage was done, however, with the global news director of Agence France-Presse (AFP), Phil Chetwynd, telling E! News the palace had lost its credibility. "At this moment in time, AFP's trust in handout pictures from the [Kensington] Palace has been compromised," Chetwynd said. "We cannot say they are a trusted source for handout pictures. We still require further explanations."

Receiving the devastating news of a cancer diagnosis is already bad enough, but having to share it with the entire world is arguably even worse. But this was the situation Princess Catherine found herself in when abdominal surgery in January 2024 revealed that she had cancer. The princess had to recover from surgery and undergo chemotherapy, which led to an absence of public appearances that quickly sent the internet into a tailspin.

No one knew where Catherine was or how she was doing, and soon, internet conspiracy theories abounded as Kensington Palace remained silent. The theories were as odd and wild as they come. Some netizens speculated that Catherine was recovering from extensive plastic surgery; others suggested she might be in hiding to grow out a bad haircut. Then there were those who peddled more sinister theories, like Spanish TV host Concha Calleja, who claimed Catherine's surgery had gone terribly wrong and that she was in a medically induced coma as a result. Pundits on X, formerly Twitter, only fueled the flames, with one writing, "I just can't think of a rational reason why they wouldn't have released a photograph of Kate Middleton by now outside of they literally cannot."

Things only got more out of hand following the release of the manipulated Mother's Day photo, and even celebrities started weighing in on the conspiracy theories surrounding Catherine. Not long afterward, the princess released a candid video of her announcing her cancer diagnosis to the public. While the video helped put an end to the theorizing, much damage had already been done, according to Dini von Mueffling, founder of a New York-based PR firm. "The Palace's PR team handled her surgery and subsequent disappearance poorly, by not saying enough to quell the conspiracies and far-reaching speculation that resulted in the spreading of ugly rumors," she told The Drum. The expert continued, saying, "More forthright communication would have gone a long way to prevent nasty gossip."

Rumors claim that Princess Catherine and Prince William's meeting at St. Andrews University was not exactly fate but a rather carefully orchestrated plan to ensure Catherine one day becomes queen. Tina Brown's popular tome, "The Palace Papers," claims Catherine's mother, Carole Middleton, planned the whole thing. "Carole's fingerprints are all over Kate's first move on the royal chessboard," Brown claims.

As the story goes, Catherine was all set to attend Edinburgh University. In fact, she'd already sorted out her living arrangements with friends who were set to study there too. Then she unexpectedly dropped out before the school year even started, choosing to take a gap year and applying to St. Andrews shortly after the press revealed it to be William's school of choice. Catherine ended up living in the same quarters as the prince, so the two crossed paths frequently. Encounters in the halls led to conversations, which led to a friendship, which developed into a royal romance.

Before Brown's book was released in 2022, royal correspondent Matthew Bell told The Spectator (via Harper's Bazaar) in 2005 that rumors were rife among royal insiders that Catherine and William's meeting at St. Andrews had nothing to do with fate. Royal historian Robert Lacey shares Bell and Brown's sentiments, telling Elle, "Kate was very strategic. ... She delayed her own education by a year and even [took] the chance she won't get into St. Andrews." He also claimed that Catherine's swift stunt at a fashion show — in which she wore a see-through dress — was all part of the plan to capture William's attention. "She's there and about to walk down the runway on the fashion show, and she strips off an extra layer of clothing," Lacey said. "Here is a very strategic lady who knows what she wants and has got it."

No royal marriage is without scandal, it seems, Prince William and Princess Catherine hit a bump when rumors were swirling that the prince had been having an affair with his and Catherine's close friend, Rose Hanbury, the Marchioness Cholmondeley. The Sun first ran with the story in 2019, claiming Catherine and Hanbury had a nasty falling out over William. "Kate has been clear that she doesn't want to see them [Hanbury and her husband] anymore and wants William to phase them out, despite their social status," a source told the outlet at the time (via Cosmopolitan). The article was later removed from The Sun's website, with sources telling the Daily Mail that the rumors were utter balderdash, saying both couples were affronted by what they claimed was tabloid fodder.

And yet, the rumors simply wouldn't die down, with writer Giles Coren fanning the flames when he took to X, formerly Twitter, to write, "I know about the affair. Everybody knows about the affair, darling" (via Cosmopolitan). Though he didn't name any names, the timing of the tweet suggested he was referring to The Sun's article. Cue another internet meltdown. Coren later deleted the tweet, which The Daily Beast claims was done under duress from the palace. The firm apparently also threatened tabloids with lawsuits should they continue to publish stories about William and Hanbury. Some felt the palace doth protest too much, especially since it usually doesn't comment on internet scuttlebutt.

Even late night talk show host Steven Colbert brought up the rumors on "The Late Show with Steven Colbert," quoting Cosmo: "When Kate supposedly confronted [William] about it [the affair], he 'laughed it off, saying there was nothing to it.' Aha, always a good response when your wife accuses you of cheating."

Prince Harry's memoir "Spare" is the gift that just keeps on giving when it comes to royal scandals, and the prince managed to make his brother, Prince William, look like a hotheaded, violent person when he recounted a physical fight the two of them had about his wife, Meghan Markle. Having her husband, not to mention the future king, portrayed this way in the media couldn't exactly have been easy for Princess Catherine.

Harry's allegations made headlines. He recounted his and William's spat in detail in the book, writing, "He set down [a glass of] water, called me another name, then came at me. It all happened so fast. So very fast. He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor." Harry added that his brother later apologized, asking him not to recount the fight to Meghan. "You mean that you attacked me?" Harry asked him. "I didn't attack you, Harold," William allegedly replied.

While Prince Harry had plenty of good things to say about Princess Catherine in "Spare," he didn't exactly spare her (pardon the pun) when it came to discussions about her relationship with his wife, Meghan Markle.

In the book, Harry alleges that Meghan and Catherine had a rather awkward encounter backstage at the Royal Foundation forum summit in 2018 — the first one the couples attended together. In an incident that has since become known as "Lipstick Gate," Meghan asked to borrow Catherine's lipgloss. The latter didn't seem all that keen, however, according to Harry, who claims his sister-in-law failed to hide how she felt about sharing cosmetics with Meghan. Catherine pulled face before complying, according to the prince.

"Kate, taken aback, went into her handbag and reluctantly pulled out a small tube. Meg squeezed some onto her finger and applied it to her lips. Kate grimaced," the Harry wrote. "[It's] something we should've been able to laugh about soon after. But it left a little mark."

If there's one royal holiday Princess Catherine would likely rather forget, it's probably the Easter weekend of 2018, which Harry dredged up in "Spare." He recalled him and Meghan Markle having Prince William and Catherine over for tea in an attempt to smooth things over between them, then were told about something else the Wales' were upset about — the lack of Easter presents they received from the Sussexes that year. "Easter presents?" Harry wrote. "Was that a thing? Willy and I had never exchanged Easter presents. Pa always made a big deal about Easter, sure, but that was Pa. Still, if Willy and Kate were upset, we apologised."

Now, that wasn' exactly a good look for Catherine and William, especially since the royal family is known for not going all out when it comes to gifts — even for Christmas. In fact, one of their Christmas holiday traditions includes exchanging gag gifts. William and Catherine's supposed complaints about the lack of Easter gifts made them look a bit snobbish, and in retrospect, they probably wish they never brought it up — or at least that the public never got to hear about it.