In the end it turned out that Catalina was not dead, nor in a coma, nor had aliens taken her to a distant planet, nor had she had cosmetic surgery, nor had the palace created with the help of artificial intelligence a double for her. to replace her in the photos and videos of the last few days. All pure rumors, hoaxes, speculation from a press and social networks addicted to gossip. The reality was something as ordinary and that affects so many millions of people in the world like cancer.
The entire establishment has closed ranks around Catherine – the beautiful face of the British monarchy, its future, the heir in many ways to Diana –, from the politicians (Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the leader of the Labor opposition Keir Starmer) even the mass press, although part of it had participated in a subtle way in the interference in his private life, throwing the stone and hiding its hand. Like, for example, when echoing a hypothetical affair between Guillermo and the aristocrat Rose Hanbury (whose existence or not is another story), even if it was to attribute the rumors to others. In modern journalism everyone is looking for clicks, readers and audiences, there are no innocent saints.
The generalized determination to protect the sick princess, added to a certain feeling of guilt for having criticized her and put her on the ropes, means that for the moment in Great Britain hardly anyone is publicly asking why neither Catherine herself nor the palace corrected the situation. At no point in the last two months was the initial statement that he had undergone an “intervention for a non-cancerous problem.” The emphasis that it was not cancer was maintained from January 17 until Friday, when the chronology makes it clear that the wife of the heir to the throne has been receiving chemotherapy for weeks.
Given that you have revealed that you have cancer, wouldn’t it be relevant to explain what type it is, what the prognosis is and to explain what disease the original operation was due to? And the same with King Charles III? The Windsors, after all, live off the public treasury, taxpayers pay for their travel, their security and their fabulous lifestyle, and it is normal to demand transparency from them.
For the British royal family, 2024 is shaping up to be a new annus horribilis, as Elizabeth II baptized 1992 in view of the explosion of the marital problems of Charles and Diana, Andrew and Sara Ferguson, and Princess Anne, of the separations, divorces and infidelities, to which was added a spectacular fire at Windsor Castle. The queen is no longer there, thirty-two years have passed, everyone has gotten older and now there are diseases. The aura of almost immortality that she planned on the Windsors has suddenly vanished, now they are in that sense like everyone else.
We will have to wait a while, after the initial instinct to embrace Charles and Catherine, to see the impact of this horrible year on the popularity and future of British royalty. Although they keep their distance and wrap themselves in an aura of mystery, they need to be visible. But they currently lack sufficient personnel to meet all their obligations, and what seemed like a problem for a few months is now presenting itself as much more in the medium or long term.
The objective of Isabel II in the last years of her reign, assumed by Charles III after acceding to the throne, was to “thin down” the monarchy and eliminate peripheral characters to save money and centralize everything in a hard core, made up of the kings and princes. of Wales, with the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh (Edward and Sofia) and Anne in supporting roles. But it’s not that she has lost weight, but rather that she has remained skinny and without substitutes who can row.
The king and Catherine, no matter how much they say they want to go back to work, are on indefinite leave, with no timetable for their return; Camila does what she can, and in recent days she has traveled for official events to the Isle of Man and Belfast, but she is 76 years old and has shown that she will not be able to maintain that pace for long; Enrique has offered to help, but his brother Guillermo (whom he does not speak to) does not want to know anything about his presence; Meghan ruled out, due to the feud with her sister-in-law and after having accused her family of racism; Ana is also older, and Andrés is marginalized due to the accusations of sexual abuse against him. And the Windsors do not have a quarry like Barça’s, which if they suffer losses can turn to Lamine Yamal or Pau Cubarsí.
Catherine’s illness (42 years old) has highlighted her importance to the royal family, not only for the work she undertakes, but for the admiration she arouses for her bearing, presence, style, discretion and role as mother of future kings. Shows of affection apart from her, her institution misses her and has no one who can replace her. When Charles III was crowned in May last year, everything pointed to a smooth transition and the acceleration of the monarchy’s modernization process. Nobody imagined that nine months later he and Catalina would suffer serious illnesses. But things come as they come and life throws poisonous darts at everyone, royals or ordinary citizens.