It started so movingly, so powerfully. A simple, stark message from Catherine.
‘As the summer comes to an end, I cannot tell you what a relief it is to have finally completed my chemotherapy treatment.
‘The last nine months have been incredibly tough for us as a family. Life as you know it can change in an instant and we have had to find a way to navigate the stormy waters and road unknown.’
A few simple words we have all waited anxiously to hear. Phew. I was in tears.
What began as a heartfelt message, a tonic, a relief after all the months of obfuscation, descended into a Boden advert, Liz Jones writes. Pictured: a still from the Waleses’ video
But then, suddenly and inexplicably, what began as a heartfelt message, a tonic, a relief after all the months of obfuscation, descended into a Boden advert. Or something Marc Jacobs might use to sell scent.
There were trees. And ferns, so many ferns. Dappled sunlight. The sort of frolicking by children amongst farm machinery and ploughed fields that seemed to locate it not in 2024, but circa the Second World War, not least because of the old-fashioned cine camera special effects. Perhaps that was the message. Kate has been though hell, through a battle. And she is winning.
And yet the ‘highly choreographed’ (those were the words used by the usually sycophantic ITV News at Ten), slick and soft-focus three-minute video released yesterday [on Monday afternoon] was surely as misjudged as the 1969 documentary that attempted to portray the royal family as ‘normal’, backfiring so badly the Queen made sure it was never seen again.
The Princess of Wales says it has been ‘incredibly tough’ but the trouble is, it all looks like a photogenic walk in the park, Liz Jones writes
If that documentary following a year in the life of the monarch was accused of ruining the royal mystique by making them seem like any other ‘modern’ family, this new video was attempting to do the opposite. To portray the Waleses as hyper real, perfect, retro. Like something out of an Enid Blyton novel. But why on earth? A real portrayal would show the kids on their phones, surely. Catherine would look tired and pensive, not perfect with conker-coloured hair.
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She says it has been ‘incredibly tough’ but the trouble is, it all looks like a photogenic walk in the park. Only William seems almost real. Reclined on various blankets, or on the sand, he is awkward, as if placed there, limbs carefully arranged like a marionette.
Catherine, towards the end of her voiceover (also strange, making the video seem like a wildlife documentary), speaks of walking side by side, hand in hand with other cancer sufferers, but in this short film she has never seemed more detached. It doesn’t help that her words are backed by a soundtrack of slow, ’emotional’ piano.
Cancer is messy, imperfect, shattering. After all the mental health initiatives, her work stressing the importance of shaping young minds, this strange, odd film seems a misfire from a family once so protective of their privacy. It smacks of something Meghan and Harry might come up with: Hallmark, cringy, cliched. Not real or from the heart at all.
How can we take William seriously, having seen his bare legs, wrapped around his wife, Liz Jones asks
Wouldn’t it have meant more if Catherine had discussed the type of cancer she is suffering from, possibly saving hundreds if not thousands of lives? Perhaps a video of her meeting other women with the same diagnosis? Where was the Catherine from that bench in Windsor, baring her soul, telling us of her diagnosis? Replaced by a chimera. An ideal. An illusion.
Who at Kensington Palace thought this was the right approach? There were lots of sober comment pieces in the papers yesterday, saying Kate has taken control, driven the narrative. But it all seems off, and the public is seeing through it. After a strange video looking ecstatic leaving a farm shop, and radiant appearances at the Trooping of the Colour and Wimbledon, we suddenly have this outpouring of intimacy that, to me, to many of us, seems a bit… desperate. Why did they do something that looks like a Vogue backstage video? One post on X: ‘This isn’t what cancer looks like. Other sufferers will feel, ‘Well, I’m doing it all wrong.’
Others commented: ‘Why the wardrobe changes, the soft music, the slow motion?’
‘I think it was intended to show they are a happy family. But if you have to try this hard…’
‘It resembles a Center Parcs advert.’
‘I can’t imagine Charles and Camilla releasing something like this when he gets the all clear.’
To my mind, the portrait of our next King was off, too. How can we take William seriously, having seen his bare legs, wrapped around his wife? The monarchy is hanging by a thread, please don’t stretch our credulity. This was a film too easily dismissed as manipulative by those who don’t like the royals. I am, of course, a staunch supporter, but even I don’t want yet another Instagram account, spooning fantasy into our open mouths, as if we are baby birds, not adults with our own mounting problems.
I’m not against tactile. I loved the footage of Diana, hugging her boys, laughing. But those images were spontaneous. Not choreographed at all.