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Earlier this year, Kate Middleton was caught up in a firestorm of bad publicity after her Mother’s Day snapshot, taken by Prince William, had noticeable Photoshop errors. At the time, the world didn’t know she was engaged in a cancer battle, and the narrative took on a life of its own. In the wake of the social media fury, the Princess of Wales accepted accountability for her editing errors. Yet the upcoming book, Catherine, the Princess of Wales: A Biography of the Future Queen by Robert Jobson, alleges that William left his wife to fend for herself.
According to an excerpt, obtained by the Daily Mail, William “refused to budge” in taking one for the team with Kate. “His PR team suggested he and Catherine issue a joint statement to help deflect the blame from her. The initial prepared statement used the words ‘we’ and ‘our’, but the prince decided not to release it,” wrote Jobson. Even though the Prince of Wales took the photo, he allowed Kate to take the blame. “After all, it was his wife who’d manipulated the snap and nothing to do with him, and if the press found out that he was covering for the princess, the speculation would only grow. When the statement was finally issued, it came from Catherine alone,” the excerpt reads.
That is quite the allegation from Jobson, and it doesn’t paint William in a very flattering light. Kate’s statement on X seems almost haunting now that the world knows she was going through a health crisis at the time. She wrote, “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day. C.” It’s confusing as to why Prince William couldn’t share the blame with his wife, who was in a very vulnerable position.
William has been accused before of his “selfish agendas” and “ego” — and it’s not just Prince Harry who has called him out for this. Royal author Omid Scobie told Newsweek in November 2023 that the Prince of Wales often puts himself ahead of even King Charles III. “Despite being fed those lines or the briefings about father and son working in lockstep with one another, we’ve seen father and son on completely different paths at times, with completely different views on things and we haven’t seen them together on engagements,” he claimed.
The future king reportedly believes that his father’s reign is “transitional” or a “bridge” to get to his own time on the throne. But what William may not like to hear is that Kate is considered the real superstar in the royal family. “For many of those in the press,” Scobie wrote in his book, Endgame. “Kate is the monarchy’s last ‘shiny thing’ for many years to come, even more so given William’s slow fade into his staid institutional role and the departure of Harry and Meghan.” No one should take away Kate’s shine, especially her husband.
Before you go, click here to see more photos of Prince William & Kate Middleton through the years.
