Princess Kate has cancer. How do you feel now about spreading all those rumors?
Are you happy now, you nosy tabloid junkies?
She's sick. Princess Kate has cancer.
And she had to post a video to tell you all about it (and beg, once again, for space and privacy) because of the endless, outlandish non-stop stories that have been circulating about her whereabouts and condition.
The internet has gone fundamentally feral over the last few months over Kate and her mysterious abdominal surgery and long recovery. The U.K. tabloids have been relentless, as have the tweets.
In case you have been living under the heaviest, most remote rock in the world, Kate underwent surgery in January and announced a months-long retreat from public life to recover. That story didn't sit well with the public or the media, and they came up with 9,234,923,089 other reasons for her absence.
The palace seemingly tried to do damage control by releasing a photo of her on the U.K.'s Mother's Day that turned out to be a hack photo editing job – then lobbed the blame on Kate herself. Then, she was seen in public at a farmer's market all smiles. But the internet didn't buy it. And what about those photos of her in the car? Was that actually her?
The rumors hardly stopped there: Maybe she got cosmetic surgery. Maybe William was cheating on her with the Marchioness of Cholmondeley (say that 10 times fast – or just once, honestly) and they were prepping to announce a divorce.
Maybe, maybe, maybe. But no facts.
Live updates: Princess Kate has cancer, started chemo, palace says
'Gossip is a tool that can be wielded for good and evil'
Certainly, part of the blame here should sit with the palace. "I hope Princess Kate has a full recovery — and can't help but just reflect on how poorly served she's been by the Palace's PR team," wrote reporter Grace Panetta on X. "They let speculation & rumors run rampant for weeks....and then threw a cancer patient w/ young kids under the bus for a photo manipulation screwup!" Journalist Kelsey McKinney added: "Gossip is a tool that can be wielded for good and evil. It can be true that the public response to this was out of control and bad AND that the palace contributed to this problem."
Look, I'll admit it. I took part in the gossip too. How could you not? It was everywhere. TikTok, Instagram, X. The content was intriguing – and way more fun to discuss than all the other problems going on in the world (see: war, climate change, the middling return of "Vanderpump Rules").
But we shouldn't have gone to the lengths we did to feed into conspiracies. I wrote several stories around both Kate's then-unknown health issue and King Charles' cancer diagnosis (yes, him too), where experts emphasized the need for privacy. Even if someone is a public figure, they're still a human. Sure, they signed up for a life in the public eye. Scrutiny at every glance, every gaze, every guffaw. But that doesn't mean that at the darkest moments of their lives they don't need a little grace – even if we, the public, don't know it's the darkest moments of their lives.
We certainly saw how gossip and the invasive paparazzi took a tragic toll on the former Princess of Wales, Princess Diana. And Kate's sister-in-law Duchess Meghan has seen her fair share of tabloid horror, too.
What do we do now?
There's a lesson here. But what is it, exactly? We certainly aren't going to stop talking about celebrity gossip. And we shouldn't! Such gossip is often a fun distraction from the rest of our lives. I think the key takeaway is about pausing and taking a beat if we feel like it's getting out of hand. Put away your detective hats, your magnifying glasses, your cork boards with photos and string. Or better yet, keep them up, but maybe don't film them and share your theories with the world.
Let the experts do the sleuthing and save your chatter for a private happy hour instead of covering every inch of your social media feed.
Read next: Princess Kate has cancer and is asking for privacy – again. Will we finally listen?
What if it was your loved one who was sick and faced gossip in every direction? Or even you who needed to tell your family and friends you were sick?
I don't hope you're happy now. I hope you're wishing Kate well and turning off your phone.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Princess Kate cancer: People who spread rumors should feel shame