I’ve already seen some of the TikToks and tweets claiming that the Princess of Wales’s cancer announcement video was manipulated or that it was AI. While I absolutely believe there has been a wealth of shenanigans over “images of Kate” this year, my personal opinion is that the video is authentic. As in, that’s really Kate sitting there, speaking to camera. To me, the story is that someone – possibly Kate herself – realized that it was necessary to put Kate in front of a camera and show people that she’s alive and she can speak for herself. I don’t blame people for wondering if there’s some kind of conspiracy with this video too, because (as I said), it’s been nonstop bullsh-t from Kensington Palace all year. Which is why I’m glad that the palace didn’t do the video in-house, with like Jason Knauf on his iPhone or whatever. They brought in a BBC team:
A BBC staff member who shot the video message of the Princess of Wales announcing her cancer diagnosis has opened about the filming of the announcement and suggestions the footage was edited.
In the video, which was said to have been recorded on Wednesday, the future queen said: “In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time, it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous. The surgery was successful. However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present. My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment.”
A BBC Studios insider said there had been no editing of the video and what viewers saw was what was shot by the team, who were also responsible for covering the King’s Coronation and Queen Elizabeth’s funeral. BBC Studios had no editorial input into the message that was conveyed and were non involved in the distribution of the video and made no edits to the recording.
This followed controversy over a ‘manipulated’ Mother’s Day photo of Kate with her children which was later withdrawn with a ‘kill’ notice by international agencies after there were suspicions that it had been digitally altered.
After the video was aired, BBC Studios issued a short statement, which read: “BBC Studios filmed a message from the Princess of Wales at Windsor this week. We would like to wish Her Royal Highness a speedy recovery.”
Would it be even more credible if someone from the BBC went on the record as a named source and said “I was there, we shot on such-and-such camera and we filmed it at 3:13 pm on Wednesday?” For sure. But British media can’t help themselves – even in moments where a named source would simply lend credibility to the palace awash in shenanigans, they can’t stop hiding behind anonymity. The unnamed-sourcing within the British media reflects the poor state of journalism over there. As for questions about the backdrop… my first viewing was that they absolutely shot it outdoors on a bench. But maybe it really was a backdrop, that I don’t know.
Screencaps courtesy of Kensington Palace.
I thought this was real until I found a video where they showed that kate ring is missing for few seconds. I’m wishing her well .
Ps this now reached to conspiracy theory (anti vaxxer). I swear to god one guy on youtube discussing how kate is slowly turning into Reptilian humanoid 😂
Yeah, the missing ring is odd. I really don’t know what to think when it comes to KP, they are awful at everything.
It is odd. Didn’t the videographer also swear up and down that they were really Can’t and Peg in his video?
I watched the video again with my eyes glued to her hands.
Her ring does NOT disappear– the only thing that happens is her hands are overexposed due to the sunlight, so sometimes the ring is “bleached out” but you can still see it reflecting the sunlight based on teh angle of her hand- even when the sapphire itself is no longer visible (due to overexposure).
Some people just dont understand how cameras work 🙂
Yeah, the speculating was fun when we thought she was just divorcing him, but she’s obviously very ill. The video looks totally normal for being a heavily compressed Twitter upload. I’m sure the raw video file looks very different – uploading a video to Twitter automatically compresses and blurs it.
I’ve uploaded clips from decent budget feature films I’ve worked on to Twitter and the way Twitter compresses them makes them look awful.
The ring doesn’t vanish, it’s just the way her hands are moving, plus the blur from Twitter’s compression.
I do agree that KP has created this whole mess by repeatedly lying and that they have no credibility any more.
I rewatched the video for the same reason. I kept my eyes on her ring all the time and didn’t see it disappearing at all It shifted position and reflected the light. But since KP has lost all credibility, I could certainly see why people are dissecting this video to the extreme.
Apparently now there are two versions of her video floating around in those crucial seconds where the ring goes in and out. One where she says I am well, getting stronger every day, and the other I am well AND getting stronger every day. @DrPI_Jolly on Twitter/X has a four clip breakdown of the difference. IMO it’s not just the missing ring but the AI Cabbage Patch doll hands that show up that is interesting.
The cancer video sweater is not the Heads Together sweater as the current one has long sleeves and rolled cuffs. The one seven years ago is 3/4 length sleeve and more form fitting.
Teehee. Well you would think that if the BBC was doing the camera work there would be no glitches surely they know how a camera works .
This is a hastily shot video to get ahead of whatever may have been seen in the data breach at the London Clinic. It’s not perfectly fine tuned because she needed to get it out before any tabloids broke the story.
Same, I watched it several times and read that the ring was supposed to disappear at 1:19 but it’s just that she moving her hand down. Maybe @JK can give us a time where the ring really does disappear ?
I rewatched the video and zoomed in on her hands.
1. Her ring never disappears. Sometimes it is behind her knee.
2. After all this time, she still hasn’t learned what to do with her hands when she talks. I took a public speaking course, and it was hard to learn to do nothing with my hands when I talked. But just watching her hands and nothing else was a bit weird.
3. Her jeans are really baggy. Unlike her. New jeans? Or lost a lot more weight?
4. I feel like this was filmed in a studio with a backdrop. The flowers and trees in the background never move, and neither does her hair. No breeze or wind to move her hair or bother the microphone. And the lighting is too good. That’s a good thing. No real world distractions to what she is saying.
They may have chosen a background specifically because they needed the daffodils. I read that the video was released on Daffodil Day, which is a cancer support and awareness thing.
Curious that KP pays attention and researches to the minutiae symbolism of flowers, colors etc. yet incapable if checking obvious photoshopped flaws before releasing the photo for press dissemination?
Curious that the narrative is KP’s comms is so bad. Yet can be so good as well, given how well K&W came out of this fiasco smelling like roses while garnering the world’s sympathy and attention. Curious that now it’s American reputable media that is trolling Meghan as well.
Perhaps KP comms isn’t so incompetent after all.
@BW: regarding your #4. That’s the thing about the BBC Studios statement, or the DMs reporting of it. It still doesn’t lay to rest the speculation. We’re led to believe this was filmed outside, possibly at Adelaide; then there’s the whole, gee, no ambient sounds or motion? part of things. Their statement doesn’t explain or negate anything. They are still truly so bad at this.
It’s not really “minute symbolism of flowers” – the daffodil is a super well-known symbol of cancer awareness/cancer support here.
It’s not like some obscure thing that only people who study the symbolism of flowers knows. It’s more like, if you were shooting a video about AIDS awareness and by coincidence you happened to have an entire wall in your house made out of red ribbons.
Like, even the dumbest PR intern would go “hey let’s shoot the cancer video in front of the daffodils”, so it’s not weird that someone had that idea.
The terrible photoshopping I think is just them panicking (and being totally incompetent) trying to create a fake Frankenphoto because they hoped to keep the whole cancer thing secret so W could divorce her in the future and not look bad.
@kit, I’ll bet about anything it was someone from the BBC that suggested filming in front of daffodils. KP’s only PR competence in that particular matter was saying ‘ok’ instead of refusing.
At a minimum it’s a green screen flower backdrop, which would explain why the plants don’t move but a strand of hair does curl up and back.
But the thing that bothers me most is why W isn’t sitting with her, holding her hand — and why isn’t anyone talking about this??
Yes, he absolutely should have been sitting with her during this most traumatic time in his wife’s life. However, as I said, in another post, given his constant sneering and disdainful expressions he always has with her, he probably wouldn’t be able to control himself and slap a sympathetic look on his face. And if Kate was in charge of this video, she probably didn’t want him with her and and denied him a PR gold star for his effort. Because you know the media would have been fawning all over him and how he’s so supportive of her. And maybe that’s why Kate included that phrase that William supported her as a sly dig that he he’s not there to support her.
I was also wondering why William didn’t appear in the video to support her.
@Freeshalori — then he has failed a bottom line character test for capacity to be ‘king’ if he can’t keep from sneering at the cancer-stricken mother of his children for 2 minutes.
If he wanted to but K refused to let him be with her, that rises to an Ethan Frome level of ironic revenge weirdness!
Absolutely @ Hannah, but William’s obviously displayed his lack of character, his unreadiness and inabilty to step up throughout this whole fiasco, not just with this video. And if Kate didn’t want him with her, who can blame her after he hung her out to dry over that Frankenphoto debacle.
I actually think it made the most sense for Kate to give the message by herself. I guess we don’t know what’s going on with their marriage at the moment, but even if they were in a perfectly happy marriage, I think it still made the most sense for her to deliver this message by herself and I think it would have been distracting from her message if William was sitting down next to her in the video tbh. I know that Charles announced his cancer by statement and not video, but if he had used a video, I also would have thought it wouldn’t be as poignant/effective/would be distracting if Camilla was sitting next to him in the video.
Claire— I can’t see that ‘even if they were in a perfectly happy marriage it made the most sense for her to deliver this message by herself’. Perhaps for Charles, since he would have been speaking as a figurehead.
Was making the video stressful? If so, in any but a fatally acrimonious marriage the spouse would be there for support.
Can you imagine Meghan delivering such a message alone? I think Harry would be reluctant to let go of her hand long enough lol!
I can see why that fellow thinks kate is turning lizard.
It’s not that she is turning lizard It’s that they have used video filters and smoothing techniques on the video. It’s giving it an otherworldly look. Kate’s hair has been plasticized to hide her droopy cheek. That also makes the video look odd
First – wishing her a full and quick recovery.
As for the rest of that lot, look at the mess they’ve made. Lost every ounce of credibility. What should have been received with nothing but an outpouring of support remains questioned – all because of their arrogant shenanigans. Nice job.
Remembering Queen Elizabeth’s many palace broadcasts, I think it was a mistake to produce Kate’s video showing her in a pretend park, with a fake backdrop of daffodils, and artificial sunlight. Sorry. That’s not the way to build credibility. She could be sitting on a polymer bench in front of a green screen anywhere in the world, right? Where is she even supposed to be speaking from? And why no makeup, and why the ultra casual clothing? That was intentional, but message not clear. And why does her voice/accent sound different—or does it? So many questions!
She said cancer *had* been present.
If we are to believe a thing KP writes we should focus on this.
She underwent and op. Post the op tests were run and it was found that she had had cancer.
Cancer is no longer present.
This is what we should focus on and hope for her that it does not return.
I agree. This is a real video, this woman is clearly ill, and KP and the British media kind of suck. I hope she’s left in peace and recovers fully.
This is why I see no conspiracy here. She looks sick and frail. She’s wearing baggy clothes that conceal just how thin she is. But that’s not a version of Kate we’ve seen previously. It’s a professional, studio recorded film with a backdrop and indoor lighting, but it’s very much real. Could it be done with Ai? Yeah. Was it? I mean, at some point we have to decide when we believe the message more than the medium. If we believe Kate is alive and very sick, this video is conveying an honest message.
I think you’re correct @bettyrose. She’s wearing loose fitting clothes, that top she’s worn before but it didn’t look that big on her. the baggy jeans make sense if she had recent abdominal surgery.
I think it was shot outdoors, but like any professionally produced video, has a lot of additional lighting. shields to keep wind out, etc. I honestly do not think there’s any AI at play here, not at all.
Agree that she is likely very sick. Based on what we know so far-only going on public statements and timing of events-I think we can conclude that her cancer is VERY serious, and likely to claim her life. Likely one of three-pancreas, ovarian or colon. None of which are “curable”. Which makes her a very sympathetic figure indeed.
But makes her husband look all the worse, with his public silence, and particularly his absence from the video. He *should* have been sitting next to her.
I see no conspiracy in the video either, so far as the visuals.
They’re still lying and being very squirrelly about the timeline. They’re still lying about the other video, because the frail Kate in the BBC one is not the same bouncy Kate at the farm store.
Also, I think, about the extent of Kate’s illness. Kate looks extremely ill, and I would guess that whatever necessitated the original surgery was much worse than they’ve let on (the tone has always been ‘she’ll be fine, it was nothing serious while their actions said otherwise).
@tigerMcQueen I also think her original illness was something worse than they’re letting on. Even in Kate’s speech here – she mentions having surgery and they didn’t think it was cancer but then cancer was found. It sure makes it sound like they suspected cancer and that was the reason for the surgery, even if it might not be the case.
@maisie i agree with you. i’m not sure the background is real, but otherwise this looks like a very ill woman, the way they’ve lit her to try to soften the harshness of the illness on her face… That it is a life-threatening cancer explains Wills’ wobbles and cancellations and bizarre statements the first few weeks he was supposed to be going back to work. I don’t know the state of their relationship, but there’s no doubt he loves his children, and contemplating that his children could lose their mother at the same or younger ages than he lost his own, at the same time he may have to become king more quickly than anticipated, would have to be agonizing. Maybe he was drinking heavily to cope or maybe he was just plain mentally cracking–we could all see from his behavior that something was badly wrong, and he has been and is still unable to rise to meet the challenge. That’s why we saw what was probably the real Kate in the car with Carol, who is actually taking on the caretaker role, while he was resorting to a happy look-a-like to give the illusion to the world that all is well.
I thought the same— it absolutely sounds like they suspected cancer, prompting the surgery in the first place, even though they’re doing everything they can to not actually admit that.
@Maisie, I hope you’re wrong but fear you’re right. My first thoughts were colorectal or ovarian. IDK much about ovarian, but a friend of mine died last year in her late 30’s of colorectal, and she suffered miserably for years before she passed. And she was getting excellent treatment, @ Sloane Kettering in NYC. It was just so aggressive.
I don’t even want to think about it being pancreatic. I’m not a fan of Kate’s, but she has three small children who are already growing up in an extremely dysfunctional family. They need their mother, and they need the Middletons to provide at least a semblance of “normalcy.”
One of the Middleton propaganda twitter accounts, that’s always posting insider information, the one that said the Dubai royal family had formed a relationship with the middletons, and that they like them, as everyone likes this family because they’re honest, decent and fun, said she was seriously ill. Someone commented since when, last week you were saying it wasn’t serious, and the account replied since two weeks. That was in January.
I don’t believe it’s a genuine video simply because Kate has never in her entire life read a speech or pre planned video message so well. The reading was entirely unlike her.
Honestly – perhaps she is better now than she has been for a long period.
I had biopsies, operations to remove impacted areas including sadly lymph nodes, chemo and radio.
She was clear she had an op and post the op tests showed that she had had cancer. Now some form of preventative therapy will be undertaken – this is the oddest part for me – as chemo is used only to kill dividing cells not prevent them from appearing.
I am hoping she had a very lucky escape with her op and the cancer is currently absent.
Yes, chemo kills cells that are circulating in your body – you can remove a mass but not those cells that are not visible yet. It prevents metastases. She said preventative but medically it’s called adjuvant- you remove the mass and add chemicals to make sure nothing slips through the cracks and forms a mass somewhere else. It is very conservative and most secure approach.
I wish her well – she looks very fragile. I hope she reevaluates her life and leaves this would-sucking marriage and looks for some happiness in life. With all that luxury- wouldn’t change places with her even for a day.
The AI claims are coming from Big Blue disappearing in certain frames. KP’s reputation is trash if they have to give this amount of explanation.
The ring has always had a tendency to spin on her finger, particularly with how thin she has gotten. It’s likely the stone setting simply rotated to the backside of her finger.
Stop being logical @M, takes all of the fun out of it. I get that they made a huge mess out things leading up to the video announcement but people really need to give it a rest already with their conspiracy theories.
I agree 100pc smcollins and M. This is so strange, all this delving. She did a video in a garden about her cancer. I know there was a run up of craziness but the strange dives into weirdness around this announcement are getting too much. Like M says, rings do turn round. The weather here in the UK has been weird, two days last week were very mild, hence I think she decided on being outside in the fresh air. What more to say.
One of the papers reported that Charles and Kate had lunch last Thursday and then lo and behold she appears on Friday. Proof of life was definitely needed, as no-one seems to believe the Windsor farm shop video was real for starters. Buckingham Palace stepped in and took control over the dreadful KP PR mess, and this is the result. They told her the only way things would go away was to put herself out there as she is, that a written statement just wouldnt cut it after all thats happened, and that hopefully would be an end to it. More for Charles himself as much as Kate I feel. Pretty much no-one really talks about Charles own diagnosis or treatment OR really asks where he is or what he is doing anymore! The video serves a twofold purpose. It shuts up all the conspiracy theories, but, and more importantly, it stops the press making Kate out to be more important than the actual monarch.
I had the same vibe about this. That the video was well done and served the purpose, so it was not concieved and executed by KP. This is KC stepping in. And I think Kate obfuscated the timeline of her diagnosis, maybe on KC’s advise, to make it look like they hadn’t known any earlier about the diagnosis and were waiting for the best moment to share it. It has proven to be great strategy, which is also proof it didn’t come from KP.
I had the same thought the other day when I read the news about their alleged lunch.
Hopefully she negotiated a good deal for her supportive statements regarding baldy.
She truly sounds very confident.
So Charles finally stepped in to save KP from itself and also to save the monarchy which was very much being tarnished by all of the drama and doubt.
The farm ship shenanigans must never be forgotten. This was an attempt not only to prove that Kate was still around, but it was also a test for the public. Would the public believe their own eyes, or what the papers were telling them? As I mentioned before, look at the difference between the sun front page and the daily mail front. Same bodies but the sun had Wiiliamified and Kateified (I know not real words) the two peoples faces. The daily mail page showed a complete stranger who does not did not look like Kate.
I think that BP stepped in because KP were making such a PR mess, and Charles came to lunch to thank Kate for cooperating and doing a proper video. No mention of William being at the lunch….strange?
I bet Charles will lead everyone into Sunday Easter service.
I wonder if we’ll ever know if the farm shop was set up by KP and with their knowledge, or set up by TMZ (or whoever) knowing it would sell for $$$
IF they had lunch, it was not to thank her. This is a PR move. Chuck had to get back on the front page somehow. Why not on the back of his “beloved” DIL who is also going through cancer?
I’d be really surprised if W & K go (let alone with the kids). Smart thing would be for them to go, with Chuck & Camz side by side with W & K. One big happy family, supporting one another during this very difficult time, showing the world they are a strong unit. But this is the BRF we are talking about. They will find a way to eff this all the way up. Randy Andy anyone?
The continued speculation is due to the KP shenanigans of recent week and the information vacuum before that. My guess is they finally contacted someone who knows something about communications who advised using a professional crew from a “trusted” source to make this announcement. Regardless, there are now people who would never believe it’s really Kate if she knocked on their door and introduced herself. That’s all on William and KP. The shaming of the entire public for simply wondering where she was throughout all this should stop, and it never should have started in the first place. People have the right to question and criticize.
I agree! There was KP backed misinformation then they got her to do this video on the premise that she needed to wait for the perfect time to tell the kids. The video is helpful but way too late. There needs to be some accountability on KP’s part about the Frankenphoto.
W&K also need to realize that they are not half in/half out or even fully out. They don’t have the luxury that us peasants have of sitting on diagnoses. I’m not saying we have a right to their medical records but the monarchy owes the public an explanation for their disappearances.
It is a joke. H& M wanted half in half out. Billy and Katie do less than half in. How long can they hide behind the school run? How many families have both parents at home for the entire school holidays.
Anyway Kate’s health crisis will allow them to take off even more time which could continue for years. Meanwhile so many cancer patients try to get back to work as soon as possible because they are frightened of bills piling up and their properties being repossessed.
Absolutely PrincessK! I am in the public sector and I have watched co-workers continue to work while receiving cancer treatments for active cancer. Not many of us can afford to take months off. In the US, if you do that, you lose your healthcare coverage. So it’s sad and shocking that she had cancer but I don’t feel sorry for her. Lots of people criticized Meghan for not being able to handle royal life but then this stuff happens and everyone is like how dare anyone criticize this precious white flower? What about her privacy? Please – we all see the difference.
Totally agree: The taxpaying public has the right to ask why members of the RF are (a) not appearing to work for the benefit of said public; and (b) disappearing for any length of time without explanation! The way Willnot has implied that the Wales’ privacy is being violated because he doesn’t respect the taxpayer’s need to know where they are and/or answer for any absences, comes across as pathological IMO. Doing things his way has certainly exposed all the dysfunction going on at KP during the last few weeks. That’s all on him! Why Charles did not intervene and read him the riot act is what I don’t understand.
So after people started questioning the original video they had the BBC come forward and mention for the first time that the BBC inexplicably had to be called in to shoot a (still blurry) video when my luddite father could take a clearer video on his phone?
And she just so happens to be wearing the exact same top and hairstyle as a video from 7 years ago? Totally coincidentally, in a video they’re specifically filming to stop speculation? (Yes, competent PR strategies include outfits in videos, just one more thing KP is bad at I suppose?)
I’m sorry, as if the BBC has never covered something the way the royal family wanted them to? Interesting that the BBC stepped in here to offer their credibility, it’s like they just did something that p*ssed off the royals (buying licensing for Suits, had a BBC sports reporter be one of the first to question the video’s authenticity and get the ball rolling) and were threatened and caved.
As I said below; they don’t say the video wasn’t edited just that BBC Studios didn’t edit it or distribute it. They only filmed it. I wonder if that is why someone advised her to not do the jazz hands so that editing would be easier. Easier also with the green screen background that doesn’t move.
Her hair is longer here than in the video from 7 years ago, her face looks different, and she has always loved a good striped sweater. Her jeans are very different though.
I understand why people are questioning the authenticity of this video after the shtshow of the last few weeks, but I do think the video is authentic and some of the theories are reaching.
OK, you’re going with the pr crisis got so bad they needed a cancer patient to film a proof of life video and yet they still didn’t take the very basic steps that literally any professional would if they actually wanted to stop speculation? Sure, she likes stripes. Just put her in a slightly different top if you want to stop speculation, how hard is that?
Also interesting that the BBC’s own sports reporter was one of the first to question the video, and now the BBC is specifically saying they shot it. And yet they filmed the Princess of Wales giving a historic address announcing her cancer and didn’t make it into a primetime special interview, even with literally the same clip jazzed up with fluff and commentators and all the rest? When they put up a live stream if Meghan leaves the house?
and do you know how easy it is to feed an old video to an AI to control the new output, including simple changes like hair length or tinting or aging? If we all can agree that KP has been using bots and other nefarious, underhanded digital means of manipulation as part of their toxic strategy, wouldn’t the newest technology be on the table, too?
I just think this is really really reaching. She wore an old sweater that she loves and that she feels comfortable in. The fact that the BBC rugby reporter (do you know how many sports reporters the BBC has?) doubted the farm stand video means nothing to me here.
This WAS a primetime video in the UK – not a live interview (which I never would have expected from Kate in this context) – but it was primetime with commentators and all the rest.
again, you can disagree and that’s fine, but I feel pretty comfortable in my position, and attacking or belittling anyone who disagrees with you isn’t going to help your point (maybe you don’t mean to come across that way, but this post did.)
But to “put her in a different sweater” they first need to conduct an exhaustive study of every single garment she’s ever worn, which clearly isn’t practical.
“Just put her in a slightly different top if you want to stop speculation, how hard is that?”
But they can’t have predicted ahead of time that people would scour years and years of old footage. And it’s not just “put her in a different top”, it’s also finding a brand new top that doesn’t resemble anything she’s ever worn before. If she’d worn a green sweater, someone would have dug out a photo of her in a green sweater.
It’s not like they would have been thinking, “oh but she wore a striped sweater seven years ago so obviously she can’t wear a striped sweater again, or conspiracy theorists will say the cancer video was somehow filmed seven years ago, when her hair, face and body are all completely different now.”
They put her in an old sweater in order to portray her as down to earth and just like other mums. Nothing more complicated than that.
It’s a literal job to archive, record, and track outfits for VIPs. Diana and Meghan cosplay doesn’t happen by accident.
I just find it fascinating that Meghan is instantly demonized and even her defenders have to couch their defenses in “im not even a big fan” or “i don’t even like her” and yet here we have the instantly believed headcanon that in fact Kate is wearing a dear old sweater because she needed comfort in a difficult time (and she went with the old sweater, instead of holding her husband’s hand).
It’s an election year in the US, and I’m not being condescending I’m being serious when I say that everyone needs to do some reading on what “AI” can do and how it’s already being used. Feeding an old video into an AI to generate a slightly different one based on parameters (like age, weight, hair color, even entire face swaps) is already possible. Denying this does no one any favors.
And if you don’t agree, great! Then KP’s incompetence is always an option. Maybe instead of telling me how I’m wrong, just scroll on by if you don’t agree. I’m sure there’s plenty of comments sharing your viewpoints. Variety, spice of life, etc.
KP was deceitful over the last few months, but the kate in this video resembles the TMZ photo with Carole, which is probably the only real photo of her that has been provided since the surgery.
Kate also has several versions of that Breton sweater and so it looks like the one for the head start video but it isn’t exactly the same… the stripes are thicker in the head start video. KP doesn’t have the ability to do sophisticated AI at this point, especially when we see how they can’t pull off photos as we have seen.
This is her. It’s just that KP has made everyone question things because of all their lies.
But it’s not even the same top, just both are striped. The sleeves are different and it’s much baggier and less form fitting.
I don’t understand the idea that literally every single aspect of the video is fake/AI except for the one tiny minuscule element that somehow proves the conspiracies true.
Really, Occams Razor, which is more likely to be true:
Kate likes striped sweaters and often wears them, and it’s a coincidence that she’s wearing a sweater that looks a bit like (but isn’t identical to) one she once wore before.
OR
7 years ago Kate conveniently filmed a video of herself sitting in a bench talking which was never released, and they used AI to completely change her entire face, hair, hands, body, voice, speech, and sleeves, leaving only the torso of her sweater untouched as a clue.
It’s like the people insisting that every single pixel of the car photo was fake/photoshopped except for the teeny handful of pixels showing a reflection of what might be a mountain in the door. Like wow what a coincidence that of a 99% fake photo, the 1% that’s real just happens to be the 1% that supports your theory.
If doesn’t add up. Either it’s fake or not. Not “everything that disproves my theory is photoshopped and everything that supports my theory is un-photoshopped.”
@Sunday, the BBC reporter questioned the farm shop video NOT the one shot by the BBC.
I share your frustration with KP’s shenanigans and the suspicions they caused. But I don’t care that much about Kate or the RF that I want to keep banging my head against the wall about what’s real and what isn’t. At this point, I’m going to say that the blurriness is actually a kind of soft focus and the 7-year old top is a favorite she wears to feel comfortable. Even if the background is staged, to me this is clearly Kate and I believe her when she says she has cancer. Having said that, I’ll take any future announcements from the RF with a massive amount of salt.
The blurriness is a filter just like what Oprah and Barbara Walters have used in the past. HD is very unforgiving and they aren’t going to film her using that. Lainey discusses what good lighting can do in camera and that’s what this is about.
But she doesn’t *have* cancer any more, does she? She herself said that she HAD cancer and that the chemo she is on is “preventative”. It’s the UK reporters which have been pushing this “has cancer” thing.
@Magdalena – every medical expert I’ve read says that “preventative chemotherapy ” is misnomer. What’s happening is chemo in case some cancer cells got loose into her system. Once that course of therapy is over her doctors can declare if she’s cancer-free or not.
@NIC919 – yes, HD can be very cruel. I worked on a film with one of the first Sony HD cameras. It revealed every pore and wrinkle, every loose thread and penetrated into the deepest shadows which gave a flat look like a diorama with one element pasted on top of another. We had a lot to learn, for sure.
I think going back to a classic “Kate” outfit makes sense here. They want people to see the Kate they know, and for her that means a Breton stripe sweater, jeggings, big blue, and long sausage curls. If you asked me to draw Kate from memory, this is what I would draw! They probably wouldn’t want people focusing on her clothes, and the brand probably wouldn’t want to be known as “Kate’s cancer sweater”.
@Sunday, do you mean you don’t think the video is Kate? I guess I just don’t know what is possible, but most AI videos I have seen are still in the uncanny valley.
I don’t know if it definitely is or isn’t Kate. But I’m not going to immediately swallow what the royal family wants me to after they’ve been caught lying in an absolutely astounding manner.
Does everyone realize how serious an international k*ll order is? That Reuters and other media said they don’t trust KP? And now we have the BBC specifically vouching for something – after the fact, after their own reporters said it looked off.
I see the weird pap pic in the car, the Mother’s Day frankenphoto, the joke of a side profile photo, the body double stunt, and now this video and all I see is a pattern of the palace testing the fences to see what they can get away with in terms of image manipulation. Whether they gave up after the body double chaos and went with the real thing or just paid for an actual professional instead of the photoshop intern at KP remains to be seen, but it’s a fair question IMO especially given the immediate history here.
And you’re right, it’s not like they’d put her in a spiked bob wig to film, but we’re told this video was specifically filmed to stop rampant internet speculation and if that was the case literally step one would be, while still in dev, to rip apart the script/set and see how the detractors would react to it, and amend as needed. Choosing the same sweater as a video where she was also shot in a bright garden setting is another unnecessary mistake in a long line of unnecessary mistakes. Then again, it could all just be breathtaking inhumanity and incompetence in a time of crisis.
Re: bright garden (or bright garden backdrop): as I write elsewhere, there’s a strategic reason for it: to highlight that the video was released in Daffodil Day, which is some kind of cancer support / awareness day.
I don’t think the Average Joe knows enough to immediately recognize AI so we need to give five minutes of our depleted conspiracy-theory energy to those experts who do. It’s the world we live in right now where the Royal Family is concerned. There has been serious trickery and a measure of desperation emanating from all their actions where Kate is concerned.
Take it or leave it, but the AI experts are saying that the bird sounds and bugs are added in, Kate’s face is flat like an AI face, her ring disappears and reappears, the stripes on her sweater bleed onto the bench, the bench slats and armrests are irregular, the word “and” has been edited into one version of her speech, and her mouth and eyes glitch several times during the video. There is also a very noticeable errant strand of hair that curls up and disappears into her head. Is any of this a smoking gun? I don’t know; I need the AI experts to educate me while I wish Kate strength and healing. Both have to coexist right now.
@Shawna and that’s valid, but it’s yet another example of a plausible excuse being offered afterwards. If that were the case, why wouldn’t KP mention that from the beginning to greater effect? It’s just not how campaigns are run (competently, maybe that’s the only problem?!).
@Harper thank you, that’s all I’m saying. It’s so much more technical than her always wearing her hair a certain style. It’s nearly impossible to discuss without sounding insane lol and that’s part of the problem. But anyone thinking that a pr/comms team would need to pore over years of old video footage to check outfits is basing their logic on decades-old technology. The brain trust at KP has already shown they embrace new technology (read: insane levels of bots) to help manipulate their narrative, so I think it’s very fair that given all of this context we question when things very clearly, technically don’t add up and don’t just immediately accept the firm’s latest story.
Who knows – they could have generated a video because she doesn’t feel presentable and doesn’t want to be shown on camera. That doesn’t mean they’re lying about every single thing, but they’ve lied about enough that I believe questions are warranted and agree that that should and can coexist with wishing Kate strength and healing.
All the legit AI experts and AI tools online say it’s real and untouched. The slats are normal for the angle and for that style of bench. Her ring doesn’t vanish and neither does the hair strand.
The BBC reporter questioned the farm stand video. They did not question the video of Kate filmed by the BBC.
I tend to believe the BBC video is real and not AI, but given the shenanigans from KP in recent weeks, I would not be shocked later to find out it’s squirrelly. But whatever the case, the BBC reporter isn’t questioning the bench video. They were quite vocal about the one at the farm store.
@samuelwhiskers, I agree with @harper that the slats on the bench are irregular. She is sitting not quite but nearly midway in the bench, however, there are only two and a half visible slats on her right side and five visible slats on her left. I don’t think that the thinner appearing slats on her left are merely a matter of perspective. At the very least this looks like she was added onto a backdrop that was adjusted for some reason. There are also points in the video that seems spliced, however, I think that is not unusual for somebody giving a statement on video but it does make the whole thing look suspicious.
I agree with Kaiser’s point that the BBC commenting anonymously adds such unnecessary confusion. Why not just say who the quote is from, it’s not as if it’s shameful.
To be fair she hasn’t significantly changed her hair, ever. She’s wedded to the super long straightened hair. Her hair is much longer in the cancer video than in the video from 7 years ago so it’s not really the same, just the same style she always has.
I don’t know why people are latching on to the fact she’s worn a stripy sweater before. It’s very very obviously not from 7 years ago – her hair is much longer now, she’s visibly much older, and she’s visibly much thinner and more frail looking. In the Heads Together video, the sweater is form fitting, and now it’s loose and baggy.
She has re-worn old clothes before. Or giving the difference in fit it’s most likely a different but identical sweater.
The one “conspiracy theory” I’ll cop to is that they deliberately styled her to look as down to earth and “ordinary” as possible, because they’re trying to promote the image of Kate the Devoted Mum and Kate: Just Like Ordinary Women, rather than Kate the Fashionista or Kate the Top CEO. Jeans and an old sweater was definitely an intentional choice in terms of what image they want to portray. Especially with the current problems around the NHS and inequalities in access to healthcare. Of course we know she has access to resources ordinary people don’t, but styling her to be dressed in old sweater and jeans is clearly deliberate.
Re: rewearing clothes: it’s been observed long ago that Kate likes to buy multiples of things she likes. It might be one of her multiples, stored carefully for whenever she’d want to wear it again.
I’m in agreement with @SUNDAY and @Harper. I do not trust British Media, even the BBC, once known as the bastion of journalistic integrity. I do not know enough about AI, but those who do call into question the veracity of the Kate video on a bench for the reasons Harper elucidated. I also call into question the shape of her face, particularly the elongated and square jaw line (unlike KMs) and the evident masking shadow between her face and hairline in the video.
All this is to say, I distrust Kensington Palace, the British Media and Prince William based on their own released missteps and misinformation.
And I hope Kate is indeed recovering in peace with her kids.
I agree with you. What bothers me is not the technology (I’m not good enough for that) but her delivering the message, I know more than a few people who had cancer and I have a hard time to imagine having them talk like that about their cancer even 20 years after.
But maybe it’s just because they screw everything till now….
Notice how carefully everything is worded: BBC Studios made “no edits” and didn’t distribute the video. This isn’t saying no individual from the studio or anyone else didn’t edit.
@equality…yes, exactly what I was thinking. I think Kate is telling the truth but also think edits have been done.
Also, what’s up with that one eyebrow?
And still no explanation for why Huevo wasn’t there supporting her. Her “fans” kept claiming he filmed it (lol), so what’s the excuse now?
This to me is the weirdest part of this video. How easy would it have been to have William sitting on that bench next to her? Hell, go one step further and begin the vid by having him silently next to her, maybe even holding her hand and then tighten in the focus on her, but the initial visual of her husband being her supportive rock would’ve gone a LOT further than just saying “William has been by my side throughout”. Meanwhile notice we have not heard ONE word of support directly from W’s mouth for either his wife or his father. I’ve seen a lot on SM comparing this video to Diana’s solo Taj Mahal shot, and all I’ll say is maybe the cosplay is alive and well.
I think he has been gunning for a divorce so he’s nowhere to be seen…but now Kate has said he’s her rock, so he has no way out.
Well, I’ve just noticed that every effort from kp to manipulate the public opinion regarding Kate’s absence after her surgery concerned her interacting with others: 1) the fake photo with her children, 2) William and Kate in the car with “Kate’s face” looking at the other side and 3) the video of “her and William ” in the garden at windsor…all this, combined with William’s total absence during the filming according to an article (I understand the necessity to deliver the message herself alone but couldn’t William be present and make an appearance at the end of the video reinforcing the image of a united family against cancer?) support my claim that Kate is nowhere near her children or William, she’s obviously ill and frail and she’s convalescent somewhere with her mother… I wish her health and healing just like Harry and Meghan but something terrible had been gone on that kp wants desperately to hide, thus all the clownery…
I know this is a weird thing to focus on, but why is her left eyebrow going straight up to her hairline?
I noticed that, too. My first thought was, “she’s further along into chemo than we think, because that eyebrow wig is askew.” But when I looked at other pictures to compare, I realized for the first time that her eyebrows have never been even. I just never noticed before. It’s definitely more apparent from some angles.
I think it is botox going wrong. It was talked about on this blog before. Maybe she had already uneven eyebrows, but botox made it worse. It was quiet apparent for a few years now.
I get botox for migraines and somehow my right eyebrow is higher than my left now. I think I’m the only one who notices it (my husband thought I was a crazy person when I pointed it out) but they were definitely more even a few years ago before I started getting the injections. The benefits for me are worth it though!
@Pittie Mom, honestly no one in real life would look at our face that carefully to notice this kind of thing. Unfortunately for Kate, her face is everywhere on TV, magazines. So, it is easier to notice when she doesn’t hide it with her hair. If I had migraines, I wouldn’t mind any side effect on my eyebrow as well. I had a coworker once, she would have to take sick day because of her migraines. It is really the worst.
Precisely this. I’ve never noticed Kate’s uneven eyebrows until now, because I’ve never been scrutinizing her that closely. Now that every photo and video they release requires a going over with a fine toothed comb because they can’t seem to stop lying, I noticed it. We’re always so much harder on ourselves and our own appearance than anyone else ever would be.
Thank you so much for the kind words ♥️ I know I’m too hard on myself and I’m definitely not on magazine covers and websites!
I have always noticed that bc I have uneven brows and I’m sensitive about it. They used to be even until I had a “suspicious” mole removed above my left brow in 2019. I still have a small scar and the skin just never fully returned to original elasticity in that spot, so the brow sits higher now. My former brow tech was a magician who made them look even but she moved and the new tech is great but not as skilled, so I have to use two mirrors and take extra care when coloring mine in because I’ve looked back on photos and WOW it’s so obvious when I don’t. The thing is doing it in just one regular mirror makes it look like they’re even, but when I use the second mirror to show my face how it actually appears, they’re way off. Basically if I draw them on crooked in one single mirror, they’re actually even. Thanks I hate it
The trouble is that the BBC doesn’t have the reputation that it might have once had. The BBC has been called out all over social media for their royal sycophancy, for their complete inability to ask pointed questions from “royal experts” and to give talking heads the air space to continue to spread their propaganda. Having the BBC film this video might have helped give it credibility but not anymore.
@Harla, yes, didn’t we just learn within the last couple of years that the BBC edited something during the Queen’s funeral — like it was on a short time delay so they could make edits, or something like that?
I don’t think it was as recent as the coronation, and my memory is hazy, so I hope someone else knows what I’m talking about. But at the time I remember thinking that it was very sketchy, especially considering the BBC’s reputation as a reliable outlet.
I blame….ALL OF THIS…on the HEAD of the Royal Family! King Charles either NOT having the WISDOM to foresee THIS PR fuckery regarding his DIRECT HEIR or the ABILITY to STOP this trainwreck WEEKS AGO says EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW about HIS ability to LEAD WITH DIGNITY! ONCE AGAIN…the final season of “The Crown” was 💯% on point! It could have ALL been SO SIMPLE…William & Camilla could have released SOMETHING together on behalf of their ailing spouses….😡
I don’t understand the BMs need for secrecy in cases like this. It isn’t Deepthroat and Woodward and Bernstein. Going on the record would absolutely help their credibility issues, because now they’ll always have a contingent who never believes them because they chose to lie in cahoots with KP. Her having cancer discovered in January doesn’t negate the reason those photos were killed or the reason even older ones have notes now. If it’s one thing you can rely on is the British media and KP snatching defeat from the jaws of victory
The slats do look really weird – bigger on one side than the other.
The biggest suspicion for me if that it’s the most eloquent we’ve ever seen her. No stumbles, one take (?) …?
She was so bouncy in the farm video and this is so somber.
No william in the video?
@dendenden It is the eloquence that caught my attention. No mumbling, clarity of communication. I don’t recall ever hearing Kate speak this way before.
I can’t say that video isn’t legit, but that one thing really surprised me, way more than disappearing rings, weird bench slats etc etc
Is the eloquence because for once she’s speaking about something that is real to her and matters to her? This isn’t her ‘work’, this is her life.
I think the eloquence is because she isn’t using the fake posh accent she usually uses. Like she’s still using a somewhat fake accent I think, but its not as big a stretch for her as we normally hear from her. And i say that because I could understand every word she was saying, sometimes I have to look at closed captions to understand her. So I wonder if using her “real” voice helped her feel more comfortable. She still looked nervous as hell though, which I don’t blame her for.
@Sarah, MTE. Her speech was good because she was talking about something about which she actually knows all of the details, and something she genuinely cares about: herself. So that’s why we’re all so impressed by how good it was (well, by Kate standards).
Unfortunately it highlights how little she cares about the other causes she’s forced to speak about.
I think that this as the first time I truly understood what the heck she was saying!
Her accent still sounds fake to me though — too affected!
I don’t think it was done in one take, you can see the very slight jumps in editing between takes.
The slats are normal and due to perspective, as the bench is tilted and not straight on. Though it is quite fashionable for the English upper classes to have garden furniture that’s designed to have uneven slats to look faux rustic. I don’t think that’s the case here though, just the bench being angled.
I agree with SamuelWhiskers. It was not live, it was not done in one take, and she was reading from the “autocue”/teleprompter, the way newsreaders do. BBC Studios would have been able to provide the means for this. Add to that she dropped a fair bit of the fake posh voice she usually puts on, and in one place, completely dropped it, then she would sound better than she has ever sounded. That “genuineness” which people are praising is largely the work of clever editing and concentration. BP must have told her that she NEEDED to get this right. I looked at her hands, and I didn’t get “sombre”. I got “emphasis”. I got “coached”. Not “spontaneous and speaking from the heart”. Especially each time she intoned “MAJOR surgery”.
Their wording is wonky. BBC only claims to have recorded a message from Kate, not recorded her. I’m sorry, but that leaves wiggle room the size of the Grand Canyon. And why is the entire video blurry? Is there no HD camera on the entire island?
Someday (maybe Omid can write it) I would love to hear the behind the scenes story of this mess, culminating with the Princess of Wales having to film this video for the BBC. No simple press release would do it after all of KP’s flailing, so it had to be video, and it had to be her. I’m sure if they thought they could get away with having her release their own photo/ video on social media, they would have. But the palace’s credibility is shot – they needed the credibility of the BBC to get this story out. That’s how bad things are for the royal family right now.
I have no doubt that there was a ton of work behind the scenes – hair, make-up, lighting, sets, and likely a teleprompter. Not to mention a professional writer and a producer to edit everything. I wonder if they considered a live interview and thought it was simply too risky or too tiring. I wonder when or why they decided to have her alone on the bench (is it the same bench the family have used in photos?) as opposed to in one of the many residences or in the palace. That is a definite choice.
Oh the truth will come out. So many people knew that something was going on behind the scenes and the tabloids were getting very impatient for KP to say something.
W&K are going to get a lot of sympathy and events will depend on how long it lasts.
My fear is that in order to leave them alone the news rats will turn on the Sussexes for headlines.
Kate’s diagnosis would have been a brilliant moment for the BRF to discuss cancer-screening (especially with the number of people under 40 being diagnosed with various cancers worldwide has been on the rise). The badly edited Mother’s Day photo debacle can’t be explained away with “Kate has cancer” because the question is: why say William took the photo and then go radio-silent when the jig was up? Whoever is handling PR at KP shouldn’t be trusted with taking out the recycling…
I think two things are true here:
1) the video is authentic. She has a ton of those sweaters and loves them, her jeans are very different from her normal jeggings, her hair looks similar to how it looked in January, just with the bangs more grown out or brushed to the side, etc.
2) at the same time, KP has lost all credibilty so I am not surprised that people are questioning the video. Everything they put out is going to be questioned for a long time and that is no one’s fault but their own.
I just posted something similar above. It’s taking too much energy to question all the details of the video when the primary message is that she has cancer. But, man, they have a lot of clean-up to do and I don’t know if their credibility can ever come back from this. With William at the helm, I just don’t think he’s capable.
“ primary message is that she has cancer“
No.
The primary message is :
Under no circumstances will KP produce the POW to be viewed by independent witnesses or talk to journalists who aren’t beholden to the palace and we will commit fraud to achieve this aim.
Why?
Why should the diagnosis they denied at the very beginning shut down questioning now? Why aren’t KP being called to account for their behaviour? Who was the woman at the farm store and why are BBC Studios and TMZ the media outlets KP utilized?
@Interested Gawker – No, the primary message of the video is that she has cancer. Denying you have cancer is one thing, announcing it in public is another. This isn’t something to pretend for PR purposes, not when the video goes out to the world where the children can see it.
As for the fakery, that certainly should be addressed and questions should be answered.
So have Kate announce it the traditional way with no faff.
That is what I am saying. BBC Studios is not hard news and many people were taken in believing it is. TMZ is definitely not hard news. Have a vetted situation verified as to the time and place it is conducted with witnesses that everyone can agree is REAL and interactive with actual news journalists. Her children certainly don’t benefit from this message being turned into a blink and you’ll miss it hunt for Big Blue and more reasons not to believe KP in their self made hall of mirrors.
Yep, completely agree!
Even if they used a backdrop, I believe they would have used a video, not an image. You can tell there are subtle changes to the lighting, so I’m going to say that it was at least filmed outside. But I’m almost relieved that someone took the reins and was like…we need a reputable news agency to film this because we can no longer be trusted.
“we need a reputable news agency to film this because we can no longer be trusted”
But they are STILL being evasive and dishonest, this was not the news division! BBC Studios and BBC News are separate entities.
KP are still trying to trick people!
Slightly off topic (I think?) but it now seems that with the outpouring of best wishes, Kate will not be divorced for a loooong time…William wouldn’t have a leg to stand on!
Cancer and heart disease are rampant in my family so, although no fan of the royals, I simply wish the best for Kate and her children.
Diana had all types of support and still has fans. Didn’t stop a divorce in her case. I don’t think PW will be able to act too quickly now though (if that is his intent).
@equality, the difference is that both Charles and Diana wanted the divorce. My guess is the last thing Kate wants is for the marriage to end.
Actually Diana would have preferred to save the marriage. QE wrote to Charles and Di encouraging them to go ahead and divorce and Diana finally agreed.
Wise decision to ask the BBC to film the video, because everything what comes out from KP is now questioned. With all the attempt to undermine the BBC it still has a good reputation. This video actually shows how much the Mother’s Day photo was manipulated and why they could not provide the original photo.
Yeah, that’s Mother’s Day frankenphoto even more starkly contrasts with Kate’s new reality. I think for now, they may feel safe from criticism for that, but I don’t think it will last long. That kill order won’t be rescinded.
That image had kate looking different from how she looked at Christmas. It looks to be from several years ago because her face has been thinner for a while compared to what they tried to pass off.
Meh, I think it’s her. Did she nail this in just one take? That seems to be implied if BBC did not edit the video at all as they’re claiming.
The Farm Shop video seems years old and was filmed when K was healthy with all of that bouncy walking and package carrying. It’s in stark contrast to this one, where she seems wan, drawn and not feeling well. It reads like a ‘break glass in case of emergency’ video proof that W&K are happily married.
I’m going to believe that it was done in a studio with a backdrop. I can’t believe that they would let Kate sit in the cold with no coat on to do this video.
I don’t know whether you’re in the UK? The weather is crap here. It can be damp and mild. March is the worst month, imo; it is so dull. I think the background is totally real: daffodils are current, they are a sign of spring and hope, and for that reason they link in with the UK Marie Curie terminal illness charity with its daffodil charity badges. She could’ve chosen to be inside on a sofa and no one would’ve minded; she obviously chose to be outside, coat or not. The fear of faked photos and video will ensure transparency going forwards, and the BBC’s involvement on this occasion adds an extra layer of credibility imo. If we carry on down this route, we’ll stop believing anything!
The weather here in England has been quite changeable. I certainly wouldn’t go outside without at least a thick jumper, but some days have been quite hot. It’s that weird weather that England gets in March where it’s hot when you’re in direct sunshine, and icy when the sun goes in or the wind blows.
In the farm shop video, there’s a man wearing a blue shirt (no coat or jumper) sitting with a woman wearing what looks like a lightweight white cardigan, and later a different woman wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt in two different shades of grey. They’re all less warmly dressed than Kate in the bench video.
I assume they prioritised appearance over Kate’s health and comfort. But being outside with high walls blocking the wind in the current March weather isn’t really big deal, it’s not that cold and she’s probably used to it. Look at any royal or any celeb woman, they’re always walking red carpets with bare arms even in the depths of winter when it’s properly freezing, so being outside with a jumper on during a warm-ish spring day, while not ideal, isn’t going to hurt her.
Hi Yes A week or so ago there were a couple of days when it was unseasonably warm. The kids were complaining about it and walking in saying they didn’t need jackets anymore. It was very mild. March is the absolute worst. It seems such a long 31 days and it never fails to be unpredictable, which in the UK means, anything goes weather-wise. I suspect Kate got one of those very mild days we’ve had.
we’re experiencing the same here on the US East Coast and I hate it. It was pretty warm a week or two ago – I was at a soccer tournament with only a sweatshirt and was hot – and then this week the lows have been well below freezing and its not getting that warm during the day, its windy/blustery, etc. Stupid fake spring. I am ready for warm weather, sunshine, all of it. BRING IT ON.
Hi Becks1. What the hell is it with March! I hate it so much. It goes on and on, and the weird weather just makes it feel worse. Pay day seems like an age away. Like you, I’m begging the weather gods – please get me some proper constant sunshine, I’ll take crisp, doesn’t have to be hot.
All KP has done, at every step of this situation is lie and then approach getting caught by trying to course correct with a different scam!
The most basic way to answer the question of ‘where is Kate’ is to produce HER, not IMAGERY of Kate.
That they won’t do the simplest thing makes the need to ask WHY that much more important, this is a woman’s life we’re talking about!
If you’re ever in doubt that AI can be completely believable (and not just a fuzzy video taken in Touched By An Angel filter on a bench) have a look at this guy, who records deep fake Tom Cruise videos.
Kensington Palace hasn’t done themselves any favours by creating believable rebuttals or content/media for their supposedly deserving subjects.
Why not do a small, intimate 1 on 1 interview with Kate’s favourite journalist while both sit in comfy armchairs and chat over tea. It gives believability and credibility and makes her human. Sitting outdoors with no other human or time or date for reference and espousing her husband being by her side when he clearly isn’t, is the antithesis to credibility.
https://www.tiktok.com/@deeptomcruise?lang=en
I am no fan of the woman but I believe that the video was real and as for the disappearing ring , the ring was there the entire time . I rewatched it because I heard those rumors. I think people are just doing too much now
It’s really getting silly, I agree. The daffodils are fake – seriously!!!! We’ve been stung with the franken photo etc but if sane people carry on with this fakery crap, well, we’re going to end up as bad as the fake news types.
I’m sorry, but at this point, it’s just too late for yet another pre-recorded video to dispel rumors. What they’re doing now, should have been done weeks ago. Enough! Even BBC’s involvement is no consolation whatsoever, given their decision to give the Firm cart blanche editorial control over all material covering the royal family. I, for one, am not falling for anything that comes from the Firm, ever again. They have zero cred with me. She needs a live event with zero editing. Otherwise, just stop wasting people’s time with your shenanigans. We are not parties to your invisible contracts.
I wonder if those stand by for BBC announcement tweets (not from BBC) from 3/15 & 3/16 are related to this video? If the video was shot 3/20, then it needed a few days to be arranged-maybe word of something leaked out.
I think it’s her. She looks ill. She looks like she’s lost weight and that she’s wearing a wig. Asked my mom & she thought the same. Mom is currently in treatment and I had “preventative” adjuvant chemotherapy under the same circumstances as Kate. Had hysterectomy. They found the cancer post-op during the biopsy.
All that said…if William/KP hadn’t f’cked up everything, Kate wouldn’t have had to drag herself in front of the cameras to do a proof of life video. And tbh, the BM response to the video (gaslighting and guilting doubters and SM commentators, slagging on Meghan) isn’t helping KP or garnering much sympathy for Kate. All it is doing is exposing the sheer hypocrisy and audacity of the Kate PR machine and her “supporters “.
Problem: it’s been years since she first wore a wig and at least a decade when we start noticing an eating disorder….nothing in fact indicate that she truly have it, we can just accept what she said.
I’m sorry for your mom and hope she’s going to get well.
Just jumping in here. Try and match her teeth. Her teeth in the video are shorter, darker in colour, and wonky, whereas, comparatively, her teeth are ‘perfect’ teeth. Additionally, her jaw is very wide, like her face has been flattened in some way. When watching the video it almost appears as if her face has been laid on top. Her face is not integrated, for want of a better description.
I am quite ambivalent regarding the BRF, but this cluster fxxk is monumental on KP’s behalf. This a choice they have made, and if they have truly chosen to keep the deception going I hope it all burns down.
I believe this one is real. I just pretty surprised at how well Kate articulated and delivered her message. I do not believe all the other videos were real. What I don’t know is if I believe her message. I believe she is suffering, and I wish her well. Just don’t tend to believe them anymore. And as far as everyone treating her like a delicate flower and being protective of her: Will has treated her like a cad this last year and more, and he let her take the fall for the frankenphoto, and is using her as an excuse for why he didn’t go to his godfather’s ceremony. By the way, if Celebitchy came up with the name frankenphoto, that is my new favorite word.
@HARPER, thank you for summarizing what I came on to say.
If Kate is ill, I truly wish her quick and full recovery.
However, because “cancer” has been stated, it’s as if everyone has forgotten all of the deceptive tactics the palace had used in the past.
The gestalt on the BBC clip is that it’s real. I don’t really see any reason to doubt. And, who do you trust? I don’t trust KP, I don’t trust any of the tabloids. Maybe I am naive, but I do trust the BBC. If they said they sent someont out to film it, they did. There is still plenty about this story that is underwater, but it’s not about Kate. Clearly, William has much to hide, but then we have known that all along. I wonder how long his unholy alliance with Murdoch and The Sun can last. Go get ’em, Harry.
Hmmm, this makes me think BP was involved in this as this sounds like something they would have done / recommended esp given all the drama over Kate or William or even their staff shooting something themselves. This was a tactical move to move past the frankenphotos drama of the past few weeks. I expect that they will do more of this.
I think this video is real. But the contrast between the Kate in this video and the Kate in the farm center video is shocking.
I know a person in cancer treatment can have good and bad days and low-energy and normal-energy days, but practically skipping in skinny jeans while shopping? I still think the farm shop video was sketchy.
As for her eloquence in this video, that could be explained by a teleprompter. And also she cares about what she’s talking about here — I don’t think she cares much about the speeches she gives at her events.
In all these years, Kate has never gave a speech while reading from a teleprompter, it’s always with/from notes.
I will say this…. I believe that Kate’s cancer diagnose is from over a year ago. She had disappeared for weeks last year, then she started wearing those wigs and wiglets. I believe she still has cancer treatment for that previous diagnoses/no operation for cancer at the moment (hence her clever wordplay statement saying .. CANCER HAD BEEN PRESENT – meaning past tense). So technically she is not lying.
But then… I stick by the ”december motorcade who rushed to that other hospital” and/or the ”she did something to herself/ or somebody did something to her” theory. D-was about to be announced in January. Then something went wrong at Sandringham/Anmer Hall.Operation was needed, not planned.
So what has happened after all the lies and attempts to explain Kate’s long absence, since the “major abdominal surgery” announcement happened, which they, in January, said was not related to cancer (which was the truth then, I think)?
The C-word was cunningly introduced to cover for the January immanent D-word – the real explanation behind Kate’s long absences/strike/non-divorce cooperation.
As all the falsehood and lies told to cover that up had taken the trust in the royal family at rock-bottom, the only sympathy card left was brought in, which was eagerly backed by the tabloid press and KP/Charles, the saviours of the monarchy.
Charles doesn’t want the divorce now (it’s a big blow for his reign). The monarchy’s press friends – who know about the dire state of W&K marriage and the separation of 1.5 years now – doesn’t want it either. Hence all their shenanigans to help Kate with many different scenarios to explain her long absence, illnesses and fake post-operation appearances.
Willy is furious, because he wants out of this marriage, and all of this is forcing him to stay longer than wanted in this marriage. Hence why he never made one direct statement about any of Kitty’s illnesses and why he wasn’t ‘filmed’ by her site on that bench. But the tabloids, out of financial gain, are going along with the game to presenting him as the doting father and caring husband, who is protecting his family, taking the kids to school, etc., etc. In fact he is ‘refusing to work’, and he hates the fact that his father is backing Kate and the Midds camp’s attempt to prolong the marriage.
So let’s see what the next act of this drama will look like for all the parties involved, after the Easter break. All the Waleses are out of the picture for almost a whole month.
This sounds 100 percent true. Great post @Advisor2U.
I agree that this makes sense, except for the reason behind the wiglets and wigs. I do think that those were introduced due to a combination of her hair becoming thin due to excessive dieting and her need to “compete” with M’s thick/long luscious locks. If she had been diagnosed with cancer earlier, they would have found a way to play the sympathy card waaaay earlier than now, especially with divorce being on the cards since before the official separation and the establishment of the separation home at Adelaide cottage.
This sounds bang on to me.
@Advisor2U: Agree 100% this!
This makes sense Advisor. More than their ridiculous reasoning. Or lack of.
I didn’t think to question the veracity of this video but there have been several things to make me look into what other people are saying about it.
Firstly, depending on what site it’s presented on, there will be different levels of compression artifacts visible. I was surprised when viewing it on one legitimate news site that Kate’s pupils appear to be thin vertical slits. Goodness help us with all the reptilian conspiracy theorists if they cite that version. Don’t worry, I’ve seen clearer videos where her pupils look normal.
I’ve only ever seen her eyes look a lovely deep hazel, almost as dark as my own brown eyes. They look very washed out and light gray in all of the videos I’ve seen posted anywhere.
I saw a version of the video that had Meghan’s face inserted over Kate’s. It was clear whoever did this didn’t work particularly hard on it but it was shocking at how with a few tweaks, it could be made to be convincing!
I’ve seen versions of the still Mothers Day photo animated to make Kate and the kids sing along to some weird song. Again, it was clearly done for laughs but with a few tweaks, it could be made into something quite deceptive.
I’m amazed and alarmed at how much a photo or video could be manipulated these days. I’m nearing 60 and I never dreamed I’d see the likes of this sort of thing in my lifetime, having spent so much of my life dealing with sorry old 110 film and old Polaroids and then potato digital cameras.
I can understand, especially after the recent cheesy deceptions, why people are as mistrustful as they are. KP better hope that Kate is up to some form of easygoing public appearance in the next few months. I can see why their credibility is shot, and most of it is their fault, but some of it is down to the times in which we live.
We, the public, need to be patient and discerning because there are more ways than ever for us to be deceived and manipulated.
I have Kate’s eye color, a dubiuos mix of brown and green. As if 2 genes fought and there was no clear winner.
My eyes get paler if I cry, open my eyes in a pool or have allergies. The chemio or crying could cause the color change. Or they got everything paler through a filter (greish eyes, blondish hair, lesser dark cicles, etc.).
This has probably been said already but in getting the BBC to film the video KP gets to hide behind the BBC’s reputation both locally & globally. No credible news source—particularly in the USA—will go up against the BBC, even if the video is a deep AI. The BBC offers the type of credibility that the tabloid press can’t—even tho it has been rocked by some scandals. With that move, it raised (or attempted to raise) William & Co., out of the hole it insisted on digging deeper and deeper everyday for themselves and as a way to stop the self-inflicted wounds. Will KP learn something from this? Nope.
Anyway, anyway, if the BBC agreed to leverage its reputation to stop the self-inflicted nosebleed what, in exchange, have BP or KP offered the BBC. What was the deal?
The BBC gives the royals editorial content over any royal event the BBC films, so they lost credibility a long time ago. However you are correct in that much of the world still labours under the impression that the BBC is a bastion of integrity.
UK media keep saying “the BBC” because it obscures the fact that it is the creative arm “BBC Studios” which filmed Kate. And the statement is cleverly worded: “the BBC did not edit…” – not that no-one did.
Oh no Kimmy I agree she has cancer and should be left alone to heal. At this point what more can be done? This video seems fine to me.
The problem is the times we live in. The technology is now there to do fakery nobody could have dreamed of until recently. I am just pointing out the little points that people can call into question, things I never would have looked at before, and it’s hard to blame anyone for taking a deeper dive after the stunts that KP is known to have pulled.
Let’s just hope the same scrutiny can be applied to all of the photos and videos thrown at us as we go wandering around social media. We need to learn from things like Cambridge Analytica and bot campaigns that there are bad actors out there with an agenda to manipulate public perception, sometimes against our own best interests.
Good on the news agencies for questioning what they used to accept unquestioningly from the palaces.
The world has been told that Kate supposed edited her Mothers Day photo. People natural think, ‘well if they can edit that why can’t they edit this’, resulting in people online even questioning her latest video announcement.
Imo the traditional media outlets inc BBC, NBC/ABC etc (for many people) has lost a lot of power and to be honest traditional media is a dying breed. I won’t be surprised if traditional media will be obsoleted or close to death once Gen A or the next one after (Gen B) becomes older.
There were a variety of polls posted on SM if people had thought this was a real video or fake video. At least 80% of about 5000 respondents or more, on different posts I’ve seen, thought her video is fake or unsure. Those who are very well versed with technology and very familiar with AI technology have their doubts. If I were the BRF and BM I would be scared of that statistic as the % averages are about the same – that’s a big chunk of people who say that they don’t believe their bullsh&&t. And we all know they completely lost control of their narratives with mainstream SM. It’s no wonder some in the BM has gone North Korea and wants to shut down SM in the UK (good luck lolZ..).
It’s their own doing, the lies they put out there – it’s only human nature that people has lost trust on liars.
I know some I’ve talked to, who doesn’t even follow the BRF, thinks that’s a fake video.
Also to some, they feel the BBC is just a propaganda arm of the BRF. For these people, they don’t even acknowledge the BBC as credible.
There were rumors on social media that the BBC should expect a major announcement last week. I’m not talking about how journalists got a heads up that something was coming their way on Friday. Plenty of random people were buzzing that something major would be announced between Monday and Wednesday of last week and Kate’s video dropped Friday afternoon after being filmed the previous day. So they were off by a few days. I kept expecting Charles to announce he would abdicate due to his health to be honest, I never expected Kate to come out and say she was having chemotherapy for cancer. So the rumors turned out to be true, I’m interested to know who leaked that.
As for the video being real or not, I choose to believe it is real and I don’t think there’s anything AI about it. I understand trust is at an all time low after the doctored Mother’s Day photo but to keep seeing conspiracies everywhere is exhausting. We finally know why Kate has been missing for so long. No, we don’t know the full truth (why did she have abdominal surgery, what kind of cancer and how advanced it is) but we don’t need it. The next part is whether Kate gets better and if she does, when she’ll be ready to resume public duties.
I recall that. I read things like “something big is coming in 72 hours”. I too thought it had something to do with King Charles.
BTW, I loved that Charles & BP let KP hang itself.
That earlier “heads up” was trolling from Russia saying King Charles had died! Several Russian newspapers went with it, then Telegram channels, then a faked BP-stationary announcement of his death. It was all part of Russia’s sh*t-stirring in the West. Nothing to do with Kate.
I think her nostrils look weird. Rearranged. Wonky. One side lower than the other. I had never noticed that in her earlier photos.
@JKS
Not just the nostril. The left side of her face seems lower. The eyelid droops. The mouth doesn’t open as wide. If Bell’s palsy, probably temporary.
Ah yes. I think I can see it. Mouth is subtle. More obvious on the eyelid. But her left eyebrow is still jacked up?
@JKS
I agree. Her left eyebrow turns up as usual. Possible she drew that one higher to look normal. I read that with Bell’s palsy, the whole side of the face, forehead included, should droop. If not Bell’s, maybe a very mild stroke? Don’t know. I’m just a Googler, not a Doctor.
British media is a mess, but BBC really is a legitimate news organization. There’s no way they’d deliberately destroy their reputation by manipulating this.
I can’t blame individual(s) on the crew filming it for not identifying themselves publicly because they’d immediately become targets for internet trolls. Seriously, it’s enough that their bosses take credit for it.
I believe that anything “off” in Kate’s face/body/demeanor is due to her illness, treatment, and the awkwardness of having to make the statement at all.
The distinction here is, if I understand correctly, there is BBC News and there is BBC Studios. This video isn’t the work of the news department. It’s being said that the creative department, the studios division made the video.
BBC Studios uses AI. They’ve been criticized for using AI for Dr Who trailers. If they were asked to create an AI announcement for the future king and queen, as the FQ was incapacitated, I don’t think they’d say no. Someone on Twitter said it was Sora.
https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/articles/2024/update-generative-ai-and-ai-tools-bbc
https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/bbc-will-stop-using-ai-for-doctor-who-promotion-after-receiving-complaints/ar-BB1kvoMz
https://openai.com/sora?ref=aihub.cn
@ Penny: Just looked at Sora….WOW!
Nothing can convince me this isn’t AI. And the plebs fall in line believing this ish…
I don’t believe any of it. It’s too convenient. No one can question either one of them now, free to do as they please and the sycophants will lap it up. They are hiding other things.
Poor lady she will continuously be criticised, analysed and picked apart until she’s no more. Very sad.
After her treatment of the Duchess of Sussex, a taste of her own medicine is what she deserves. I hope she recovers from her illness, but her children are the ones I feel sad for.
I believe a few things are true;
1. That cancer was found to have been present, and is now removed/treating to prevent a relapse.
2. Whilst this is horrible, the RF will use this as a sympathy vote to deflect from other issues
3. Wills & Kate still don’t live together
They have just confirmed to me that nothing they say in relation to their health ( and a great deal more ) can be believed, and what a gall some people have saying “you should have have always known it was cancer” when they specifically said it was wasn’t cancer… so the ‘kind’ advice wasn’t to have believed them but to have assumed the opposite and to have speculated from the start? I can agree and its a mistake I won’t make again. And they will come to regret it too, I expect.
After having told us for weeks “you have not been lied to, they made a very clear statement, she had mystery abdominal surgery, she will be back after Easter and they will provide updates on any significant developments” they then pivoted to “they couldn’t provide the updates because she has small children and had to wait for a holiday but she told us at Easter just like they said.” It doesn’t matter if the change of plan was understandable or not – the plan we were all asked to put our faith in turned out to be cobblers, that’s the point? Easter, BTW, is next week. It wasn’t last Friday. She moved up the timing of her announcement.
Even when she was cruelly forced into explaining what had happened to her she still basically went “my mystery surgery was sucessful” which was gobsmacking tbh. Can we just reflect on a minute what would have happened if they *hadnt* found cancer? She would never have given that speech. Speculation or not she would still be hidden away right now. Because what on earth would her announcement have been *about* and why would she have made it? We still *don’t know why she went in for surgery originally * and she still doesn’t want to tell us. People would still have been speculating and her children (and there has already been a school holiday between January and now – spring half term) would still have had to hear it all. And they *still* might because she did not clear it up. Instead she focused on a chance discovery that occurred following the surgery, yes still serious, but technically the answer to a question which nobody had been asking.
I think Slate’s take on this was good, with the clear reminder that rightly or wrongly people have been conditioned to look at her so they would always have noticed when she disappeared and likely to develop their own theories. Especially since the media and Meghan haters put her on a pedestal. If Anne disappeared for months I actually don’t think it would have aroused large amounts of chatter. People are sufficiently unaware of Edwards comings and goings, even though he does more tham Kate, that I kept reading questions asking what had happened to him even as he was meeting the President of Turkey! It isn’t fair but Kate is under a spotlight where some candour would prevent worse, also show leadership and actually jive with all the engagements they do praising other people for openness and sharing….
Both things can be true; Kate, in real life, can have cancer and the video purported to be her can be fake. People need to step back and stop conflating disbelief in media presentation as denying Kate’s medical condition, they are separate issues.
Exactly! Nobody doubts that Kate is seriously ill…but why all these fake photos, videos etc? To protect the children? Was it preferably for the children to be exposed to all this speculation? Not to mention, that they had the winter school break where they could have explained everything to them instead of waiting till Easter… the truth is always better than subterfuge…children always know and understand far more things than we give them credit for…