Brendan O’Neill Brendan O’Neill

The hounding of Kate was a new low for Britain

Coverage of the furore around Kate's admission that she digitally altered a mothers' day photo of her and her children (Credit Getty images)

Shame on the ghouls who spread lies and rumours about the Princess of Wales. And the idiot conspiracy theorists who wondered if she might be dead or getting divorced. And the tragic social media sleuths who squealed ‘That isn’t her!’ when a video showed her shopping at a farmers’ market. And all the rest of you who knew Catherine was ill, and knew she’d had serious surgery, and knew she was craving privacy, and yet who wailed ‘WHERE’S KATE?’ on a loop, like lunatics, for weeks.

For now we know the truth. She’s not in hiding. She’s not in a coma. She’s not fleeing ‘the Firm’ in a huff over something William did. No, she has cancer. Cancerous cells were found following her abdominal surgery in January and she’s now undergoing preventative chemotherapy.

In her darkest moment, the mob hounded her. Truly it was a sick spectacle

A wave of shame should be washing over Britain this morning.

Brendan O’Neill
Written by
Brendan O’Neill

Brendan O’Neill is Spiked's chief politics writer. His new book, After the Pogrom: 7 October, Israel and the Crisis of Civilisation, is out now.

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