As the frenzied press descends on the Princess of Wales much as it once did the Princess of Wales before Kate—Princess Diana—Diana’s brother, Earl Charles Spencer, broke his silence about the rampant conspiracy theories surrounding Kate’s health. Speaking to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, Spencer was asked if he thought the fervor around Kate was “more dangerous” than the media intrusion on Diana in the 1990s.
“No, I think it was more dangerous back in the day,” he said. “I think, if I look back to [19]97 and Diana’s death, I think that was so shocking, too—the circumstances of her death were so shocking that it did make the industry that supports the paparazzi really consider more carefully what it could and couldn’t do. Not because they had a moral judgment, but because it was unacceptable to the public.”
When asked specifically about the internet conspiracy theories surrounding Kate—married, of course, to Prince William, who is Spencer’s nephew—he admitted “I do worry about what happened to the truth.”
Diana died in a car accident in 1997, just 368 days after her divorce was finalized from the then Prince Charles on August 28, 1996. Much like the media has hounded Kate as she rode in a car alongside her mother, Carole Middleton, on the school run on March 4 or while riding in a car alongside William one week later on March 11 (the day after her Mother’s Day photo scandal), the press mercilessly chased Diana, including and up until the moment of her death in a Parisian tunnel at just 36 years old.
“My mum was harassed throughout her life with my dad, but after they separated, the harassment went to new levels,” Prince Harry said in an episode of the Harry & Meghan docuseries on Netflix. “I saw things, I experienced things. I learned things. The pain and suffering of women marrying into this institution. I remember thinking, ‘How can I ever find someone who is willing and capable to withstand all the baggage that comes with being with me?’”
It’s “baggage” that Kate has faced for over 20 years, but perhaps never more vitriolic towards her than right now. When Kate does return—Kensington Palace said back in January that it wouldn’t be until after Easter, which is in less than two weeks’ time now—“I can see a world in which the princess might discuss her recovery out on engagements,” a source told The Sunday Times, noting that she and William are “at their most open” when out interacting with members of the public. “If she was going to do it, that’s how she would do it,” they said, adding that William and Kate will only speak out when “they feel” ready.
“I would expect that to be her instinct, and it will be her call,” they said. “They’re not going to be rushed.”
