Kate Middleton, the moral appeal behind the cancer revelation

There is no good way to communicate bad news, but some are more challenging than others. There are people who, out of cowardice or excessive courage, refuse to communicate them even to themselves. The hardest task, it is common opinion, is to break the bad news to loved ones, but, in the wake of a statement made by Catherine on Friday, Princess of Wales, now we can think of something worse. Imagine having to share your bad news with millions of unknown people: people who are fascinated, itching, compassionate, or cruelly mocking. You don't know even one of them personally, but they all want or assume to know you, to know what you feel. How can you start breaking news like that without breaking down?

The statement was recorded outdoors, Kate was sitting on a bench, under an uncertain sun. She turned to the camera and calmly revealed that after having undergone abdominal surgery in January, she was now undergoing “preventive chemotherapy” for an unspecified cancer. “I'm fine and I'm getting stronger every day,” she said. A bold statement, as a multitude of onlookers analyzed every inch of her face. A carpet of golden daffodils, behind her, was a promise of British spring: a sort of natural chorus to the invocation with which she concluded, asking that her companions in misfortune “do not lose faith or hope”.

Those strong words could have been spoken by the late Queen Elizabeth II, well known for her stoic fortitude. In other ways, what is notable about the Princess of Wales' revelations is their unregal nature. She didn't use titles. She referred to her husband as “William” and their “young family.” He did not mention King Charles, who is also being treated for cancer. The whole tenor of the statement was intended to establish an affinity between Kate and any other parent, anywhere, whose life, in her prime, had just been invaded and shattered by the bitterest of shocks. It doesn't matter whether this closeness is instinctive or planned; some public figures have empathy, others don't. Kate has it, as does Ronald Reagan, whose 1994 letter began: “I was recently informed that I am one of the millions of Americans who will be afflicted with Alzheimer's disease.” It's about me, yes, but not just me.

Evidently, we have come a long way since 1951, when it was not just the British people who were not informed about the health condition of King George VI, suffering from lung cancer. It is said that even he was unaware of this. In any case, to say that relations between the British royal family and the rest of the world are now illuminated by a light of transparency and honesty would be a stretch. If anything, we have simply exchanged one darkness for another: the old cloud of ignorance has given way to a murky fog of misinformation and assumptions. When Kate was admitted to hospital in January, those who responded responded with a sympathetic murmur of “It looks bad. Get well soon,” they betrayed their laughable innocence. The collective cry, in print and especially online, had an angrier note, as if of protest: «What is being hidden from us? Be careful: if you don't tell us the truth, we will have no choice but to invent it.”

Raising the tone of this request was a failed attempt to satisfy it on March 10 – Mother's Day in Great Britain – with the publication of a happy photo of Kate Middleton and her three children. The image, it was soon discovered, had been altered; every pixel was examined for manipulation and deception. A gap has opened between reality and fiction into which the most extravagant theories have rushed to slip. When William and Kate had the audacity to visit their favorite produce emporium, in Windsor, and the misfortune of being caught on camera, the visual record was quickly torn to pieces. Social media went wild and they talked about doubles. The most balanced comment arrived on the front page of the Briton Daily Star, which was titled: «The world goes crazy for a woman who goes shopping». The distant era of George VI suddenly seemed like a happy island: rigid perhaps, but safe.

Is that why Kate, William and their advisors decided to have her make the final statement? Did they think the limit was being crossed? If so, you can't blame them. As much as Kate and William's children are sheltered from the storm, it is certainly not easy to hide from them the fact that their mother finds herself at the center of the world's attention, at the mercy of a violent meme that insists that the role of their mother would be played by someone else. A thought also goes to William, the motherless future king, who continues to carry out his royal duties while both his wife and father are being treated for cancer. Logic dictates that the only remedy for this madness was to show the Princess of Wales alive and in as good a condition as she could hope to be, given the ordeal she is facing. Whether such logic and the calm appeal to moral decency can silence the voices and shame the resentful is an open question. You feed the beast, and it will return hungry to eat more.