Natalie Richards: TikTok users have gone too far in their speculation about Kate, Princess of Wales’ health

I appreciate the irony in my writing this column. I’ve done my share of gossip writing and while that might extend to the escapades of influencers, “Perthonalities” and the royals, there are — believe it or not — lines which which shouldn’t be crossed. That includes the speculating about the most private things of all — someone’s health and medical records. For a royal, who many might argue has a celebrity power bigger than anyone else in the world, and paid for by British taxpayers, very little is sacred. And once she decided to speak publicly about her health, Kate, Princess of Wales was incredibly upfront. She not only revealed she had been diagnosed with cancer, she also told us where in her body she’d had surgery (her abdomen). But do we really need to know more? After Kate’s first appearance of the year at Trooping the Colour last week, it didn’t take long for social media to blow up with theories about the future queen’s health. Had she had a facelift? Is she wearing a wig? Let’s look frame-by-frame at her dress movements to see if she might have a stoma. Was the “Kate” we saw on the palace balcony actually a body double? Yes, the royals are public figures and we should expect some sort of speculation. Occasionally, the royals’ famous decision to “never complain, never explain” has left them wide open to gossip and rumour. But to borrow a phrase from the TikTok generation, speculation so crass give me the “ick”. It’s no wonder the Princess wants to recover away from the public eye if this is how people are going to behave.