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‘Unprecedented’: How Princess Kate is redefining royal communication
“Unprecedented”, “revolutionary”, “spectacular”: by announcing the end of her chemotherapy in a carefully crafted video featuring her family, Princess Kate has broken free from the traditional codes of royal communication to better redefine it. “It’s simply unprecedented!” royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams enthuses to AFP, praising the video as “extraordinary, aimed at a young and connected audience”. On Monday evening, Kate Middleton, 42, announced the end of her cancer treatment, which she had made public last March. As with the announcement of her illness, the Princess of Wales opted for the video format. However, the similarities between the two announcements end there. In March, it was in front of the camera, alone on a bench, her features drawn, that she confided to the British and the world that she had cancer, the stage and type of which she never specified. In Monday’s video, she addresses the world via a hushed voiceover. The public finds her smiling, strolling in the English countryside of Norfolk with her three children and her husband, Crown Prince William. Produced by a professional advertiser, the video went viral in a matter of hours, attesting once again to the princess’s popularity. On X, it had accumulated more than seven million views on Tuesday evening, while on Instagram, the number of likes exceeded two million. With its cinematic aesthetic, it offers a unique insight into the life of this family like no other. More than an invitation to a picnic with the family of the heir to the throne, the video lingers on moments of tenderness shared by the couple. Kate and her husband are seen kissing and embracing. “In 40 years of covering the royal family, I have never seen anything like the video of Catherine (Kate’s official name),” wrote Arthur Edwards, a photographer for the tabloid, in the Sun. – “Controlling the media relationship” – For Richard Fitzwilliams, the video is also a way of cutting short speculation about the princess’s health. In March, she had to apologize after a photoshopped picture was published. The wildest speculations about her state of health were then rife. On a visit to Wales on Tuesday, Prince William warned that his wife had “still a long way to go” before she could return to the forefront. By communicating in this way, the royal couple intends to “totally control their relations with the media”, Rob Jobson, author of a biography of Princess Kate, analyses to AFP. On the substance, the message of the Princess of Wales also appears innovative. As when she says that the illness has put her in front of her “own vulnerabilities”. “This period has mainly reminded William and me to reflect and be grateful for the simple but important things in life, which many of us often take for granted. To love and to be loved, quite simply”, she says in the video. For Shani Orgad, professor at the London School of Economics, the princess’s communication remains “vague”. She talks about her vulnerabilities but without dwelling on them. Furthermore, the teacher analyses to AFP, the “fairy tale setting with this idyllic English countryside has little or nothing to do with the way cancer patients talk about their illness”. The fact remains that in the world of royal communication, the princess’s video stands out. “It’s probably not something that Prince Charles could have done because he wasn’t raised like that”, underlines Richard Fitzwilliams. Is this set to last? “Hard to say, admits the commentator. We can say that this communication was made specifically for the princess’ cancer and that they will return to more traditional canons. The future will tell us”.adm-ctx/bd/bds
