Are there parallels to the way the Princess of Wales and Israel are treated by the media?

By Rolene Marks

It was the pearl clutch felt around the world. The Princess of Wales (Kate Middleton to the Google analytics fanatics) released a photograph for Mothering Sunday, which she admitted to slightly editing. The shock! The horror! The something we all do on a daily basis! The backstory is this – in January, Kensington Palace released a statement saying that the Princess had abdominal surgery and would be in recovery until after Easter. A month or two went by, this request was respected and then the Katespiracies started:

Where is Kate?

Has there been a divorce?

Is she still alive?

The Princess released a photo, taken by her husband, Prince William (maybe he is a lousy photographer) with her three adorable children. Every pixel was pored over and it was found that there was editing. The Princess apologized and owned up, a rare feat in a day when everyone in pursuit of greater victimhood status, blames others.  Now Princess Catherine editing a photo (who wants Prince Louis dislodging a royal booger or Princess Charlotte rolling eyes at her unruly sibling) should not result in a global meltdown – but it did. Frankly it just makes the future Queen more relatable and endearing to me, already a fan.

Princess Catherine was brutally trolled and mocked online and savaged by the media. The BBC dedicated broadcast after broadcast to analyzing the photo, zooming in on the foliage and the patterns on Prince Louis’s sweater. It would have been nice if they had dedicated as much effort to analyzing the footage and phone calls that dispelled their allegations that Israel bombed the Al Ahli hospital on 17 October instead of running with the Hamas propaganda. Kim Kardashian trolled the future Queen on “the gram”. Kim is Klassy like that. Hands up if you have seen an unedited image of a Kardashian. No? Perish the thought of no airbrushing of the famous Klan. A ridiculous amount of time, social media space and broadcast time was dedicated to excoriating Catherine and her staff. “The Royal family is in crisis!” they bayed. The media have been dying for a “gotcha” moment and they got it. Many on TikTok, X and other social media platforms engaged in the most outrageous and abusive conspiracies and bullying behaviour, some even demanding pictures of proof of surgery. Cue the feminists who like they have been with Israeli women and girls raped, were silent. One kind of feels that they are feeling mighty smug to see a Princess in their mind, taken down a peg or two.

All sane people, which pleasantly amounted to most of us, felt protective of the princess and saw through this storm in a teacup.

Then came the bombshell that broke hearts around the world. The Princess of Wales in an extraordinary and brave address to the world shared that cancer had been found in tests conducted after her successful surgery and she was undergoing chemotherapy that would see her away from public duty until her doctors say she is healthy enough to return.

The Princess’s address cut into scheduled programming around the world and was the top story in Israel as well. People were shocked and heartbroken, most in awe of the tremendous courage it took to make that painful statement. Was Catherine forced to make such a statement because of the horrific amount of speculation and trolling? Some celebrities like Blake Lively apologized while Kim Kardashian has yet to apologise or remove her Instagram post.

She may be a public figure but is not public property – no matter how much taxpayer money funds the family. It amounts to barely two Pounds a year per person. Less than a cup of coffee.  Imagine that elements of the media and crazed social media nutballs and US tabloids learnt from the horrible hounding of Princess Diana. Sadly, they have not – and now history seems to be repeating itself at an alarming and dangerous rate.

This whole ordeal is a reminder that in 2024 any kind of mistake, even followed by an apology, is unacceptable. Thank G-d we are all perfect.

Now you may be asking, what on earth could any of this have to do with the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, following the atrocities of 7/10? The parallels are staggering – and proof that we live in a post-truth world – despite what many witness with their own eyes.

One of the first casualties of any war that involves Israel is the truth. No sooner had the Hamas-recorded footage of their rapes and massacre been broadcast all over social and mainstream media, the denials, calls for “context” and condemnation of Israel began. Israel had yet to begin their military campaign.

I could not believe that shortly after the horrific attacks that millions witnessed while hearing the gleeful cheering of the perpetrators, not only denied that it happened – but engaged in the most vile conspiracy theories. We watched the atrocities – and the denials in real time.

What starts with the Jews never ends with the Jews and the horrific campaign of online bullying and conspiracy theories is eerily familiar. It does not matter if you are country or future Queen, if the mob perceive privilege of any kind; you are fair game for conspiracy.

The same feminists who have spoken about the rights of women to make our own choices and have autonomy over our bodies have not only been silent about the rampant bullying of a woman in recovery from an operation, but gleefully participated in conspiracy theories about her whereabouts and why she is in recovery. They seem a little too smug and all too silent. They are the same feminists that not only have been silent about the rape of women and girls on 7/10 and of hostages still held by Hamas, but also doubt and question the overwhelming evidence. Me too – unless you are a Jew or future Queen?

The same demand of “proof” – and refusal to believe it when it is given. No sooner than the world witnessed firsthand the atrocities committed by Hamas on 7/10, than the denials began. Each theory was more grotesque.

“Israel hired actors”.

“The IDF killed them”.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu purposefully killed his citizens to justify an invasion of Gaza”.

Grotesque.

Katespiracists demanded “proof of life”, some going as far to demand photos from her surgery. The infamous video captured of the Prince and Princess of Wales leaving a farm shop in Windsor had the crazies saying that it was “AI” or a “body double”. Some pundits even demanded she do more to be transparent with her medical records and there was news that the London Clinic reported a security breach with her file. Now we know she is being treated after cancer was found. I hope the ghouls who pushed conspiracies are happy now.

We are living in a post-truth world. Social media cannot be controlled – but we can control our behaviour on social media platforms. Misinformation is extremely dangerous and poses a threat not just to the truth, but to our safety as well. Imagine what it must have been like for the Princess of Wales to be the target of so many jokes and such scrutiny while trying to protect her children and deal with a shocking diagnosis and subsequent treatment. Imagine what it feels like for the Israeli people that the darkest day in our history is treated with contempt, denial and a staggering lack of empathy. Imagine how that affects Jewish communities around the world who are the targets of threats and hate for a war or policies they are not responsible for. There is only address for the world’s derision and that is Hamas.

There are many parallels in these two massive media events. We can only hope that lessons are learnt. I fear that they have not been.

While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).