KateGate: The Ethics of Paparazzi
By GRACE YANG ‘27 and JULIA ZHOU ‘27
If you were to have opened TikTok anytime between March 10 and March 23, you’d have faced a barrage of short-form content circulating a new internet phenomenon nicknamed KateGate. Swipe after swipe, millennials with wide-eyed expressions and eye-catching video captions would pop up against a green screen, yelping with shrill voices about the alleged disappearance of Catherine, Princess of Wales. A-list celebrities like Blake Lively and Kim Kardashian took to other social media platforms like Instagram or Twitter, posting references to KateGate with witty captions like “On my way to go find Kate.” Social media users flooded the comment sections of videos about Kate Middleton, filling our phone screens with conspiracy theories about Kate’s mysterious disappearance. But what was KateGate, really? Why were social media feeds filled with this online sensation?
Following her public appearance in Sandringham on Christmas Day with the rest of the Royal Family, Kate Middleton, also known as Catherine, Princess of Wales, exited from the public eye. On Jan. 17, Kensington Palace released a statement that Middleton was undergoing a scheduled abdominal surgery at the London Clinic. However, uproar first began following the release of an image of Middleton with her three children. March 10 is Mother’s Day in the UK, and in celebration, Kensington Palace released an image of Middleton encircled by her children—Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.
The allegedly photoshopped photo of Princess Kate Courtesy of People Magazine
However, social media users immediately noticed little flaws in the photo, which could be attributed to the use of Photoshop. The texture on certain surfaces looked unusual, and details in the image didn’t line up, as if manipulated by artificial intelligence technology. The photograph was swiftly recalled by numerous news publications like AP News, CNN, and Reuters.
Immediately, the internet began to buzz with uncertainty about the validity of the reasoning behind Middleton’s hiatus. Following the overwhelming response from online users, Middleton released an Instagram story apology: “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I want 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.”
Nevertheless, the masses remained insistent they were being deceived, and flooded platforms like TikTok with theories and analyses of the situation—some ranged from Prince William having harmed Middleton in some form, leaving Middleton deceased or in a coma, to Middleton having undergone cosmetic surgery, to Middleton making an appearance on the popular reality show The Masked Singer. All things considered, the public was certainly skeptical to believe the Palace’s statements and did not shy away from making presumptuous assumptions about her condition. People even went so far as to tie in the murder of Thomas Kingston, the husband of Prince William’s cousin, implying he and Middleton had been involved in an affair.
Sadly, on March 22, Kate Middleton shared in a video released by Kensington Palace that, following her scheduled abdominal surgery, she had been diagnosed with cancer and would undergo chemotherapy. The public at once surged with condolences for Middleton and her family.
The entire “KateGate” situation brings to light the issues with respect for the privacy of public figures. When Kate had been absent from the public eye, she and her family were deluged with questioning and even had overly presumptuous assumptions made about their family dynamic. The Palace’s silence regarding the Princess’ condition was immediately inferred to have been despicable.
We’ve seen so many of the same situations play out. In 2022, Kit Connor, an actor on the popular LGBTQ+ young adult show Heartstopper, was faced with accusations of queerbaiting—having played the role of a gay teenager in the show. The accusations had arisen from Connor simply not identifying with a single label—leaving much of the public believing he was a heterosexual man profiting off queer identity. Connor was eventually forced to come out as bisexual on Twitter (now X), due to the harassment he received on social media, measures that may have caused harmful reactions from the people in his life. Coming out on one’s own terms, something that should be a joyful and beautiful moment in a queer person’s life was instead a scary and involuntary experience for Connor.
Just recently, following assumptions of an unhealthy lifestyle or eating disorder after noticeable weight loss, singer Ariana Grande posted a response reminding her audience that “healthy looks different on different people” and that they had no way of knowing the innermost workings of her life and the experiences she was living through.
Even in more publicized scandals like the Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo controversy, in which the public inferred Carpenter to have broken up Rodrigo and actor Joshua Bassett, Carpenter faced immense hate on social media platforms because of their following’s skewed views on the situation.
KateGate is certainly a reflection of these incidents. The public did not take silence as an answer, and, instead, insisted on forcing a reaction from the public figure at hand. Just as the aforementioned celebrities were pressured to either reveal information about themselves or were faced with undeserved reactions from people outside of their issues, Middleton was compelled to address her condition to a global audience, stripping the matter of its personal and emotional qualities and transforming it into a public spectacle. All this is to say that we have no idea what kinds of lives famous people live. These celebrities should not face consequences as a result of ideas about themselves that may or not be true.
It’s often difficult for the average person to view anyone with celebrity status as human. Too often, celebrities have their personal and romantic lives speculated on and are even perceived as characters or playthings in the grand scheme of things. It’s important to remember that superstars are also people with feelings, and it’s important to respect their privacy.
Frequently, a narrative is spread that celebrities are undeserving of privacy in the same way an average schmoe like you or me is. Some argue that their favorite influencers or artists, having put themselves into the public eye so intentionally, “have had it coming” or have sacrificed this need for privacy as their occupation. Some might argue that Middleton, having married into a family whose role is so performative first and foremost, has an explanation for her absence from the public overdue. This take on Middleton’s situation is so deeply insensitive however which way it can be taken. Public figures are deserving of peace. The role they’ve taken as performers, essentially, is not much more than a facade, and people always seem to forget this, believing their idols’ personas to be the entirety of their being. We as fans or adorers of these figures need to recognize that famous people are people with lives separate from what they demonstrate on our screens.
In a situation such as Kate Middleton’s, it was so necessary for her and her family to take a step back as they processed the suddenness and sensitivity of her diagnosis. The public ought not to have forced an immediate explanation from her by speculating repellent ideas or casting such a spotlight on her through paparazzi or “viral” online videos.
Famous people have a right not to be entirely candid with their followers. They entirely deserved the love and care with which similar situations are dealt with in the lives of “normal people”. Middleton’s scandal should have taught us the dangers of caring far too much about the lives of people with whom we’ve developed parasocial relationships. Stay safe out there, and mind your business!