The truth behind conspiracy theories
Published By admin with Comments 0
It all started at a party back in January.
A friend asked me casually over cheese and wine, “What’s the deal with Kate?”
They were, of course, referring to Princess Catherine’s abdominal surgery. I told the truth: “I only know what Kensington Palace has said.”
But then another friend chimed in and the speculating began. “Maybe she’s had a hysterectomy.” “Maybe she got a facelift.” It went on for a while…
Flash forward to the end of February, and a few of my friends and I had accidentally fallen down a conspiracy theory rabbit hole.
We would message daily about how suspicious it was that Catherine still hadn’t been seen publicly, musing that she could have left Prince William and fled the country in secret.
We had a field day when the official Instagram account for the Prince and Princess of Wales posted a clearly photoshopped family photo on Mother’s Day.
And my friends and I weren’t alone. In March, when The Sun published several images of the Princess of Wales at a farm shop, TikTok was rampant with conspiracy theories about her — like the one where the royal family had hired a professional impersonator.
A video featuring The Sun’s photographs with the caption, “Do you believe this is Kate Middleton?” racked up more than three million social media views in four days.
I can’t speak on behalf of the millions of people who jumped on the conspiracy bandwagon but, for me, it was all done in jest.
Did I really think Catherine was missing? Of course not. But I did get pleasure from theorising about Catherine’s whereabouts with my mates.
That was, until the sobering moment on March 22 when the Princess of Wales announced, in a heartbreaking video, that she’d been diagnosed with cancer.
I can’t put the shame and guilt I felt watching that video into words. My group chat immediately ceased kidding about Catherine, and I vowed never to partake in a conspiracy theory again.
Content retrieved from: https://www.womensweekly.com.au/news/conspiracy-theories/.
