I’m a pretty suspicious and conspiratorial person in general, but I also like to just sit back and watch how a royal story unfolds and plays out, especially when there are a lot of moving parts and it involves more than just palace incompetence. Currently, I’m watching this story about the Princess of Wales’s medical records. This week, all of the British media has been outraged that “someone” tried to access Kate’s hospital records at some point, likely in December and January. Does it feel like the story has been conveniently timed to generate sympathy for a princess in the middle of a months-long newscycle of dysfunction and lies? For sure. But I also believe that hospital staffers really tried to access her records. So, here’s an update – three clinic workers are under investigation and it is not believed that they tried to access King Charles’s records.
Three London Clinic workers are tonight under investigation by management over claims they tried to access Kate Middleton’s private medical records. The trio all work at the prestigious private hospital where the Princess of Wales had abdominal surgery earlier this year, and where King Charles was treated for an enlarged prostate before being diagnosed with cancer. It is not clear whether they have been suspended or when the clinic was first made aware of the allegation they had tried to peek into Kate’s notes.
The Princess of Wales is believed to have been told about the potential data breach. The King’s private medical information was not affected. Aside from a statement put out by bosses at the clinic, it has refused to answer questions on the status of the staff and what actions it has taken against them. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) says it is investigating the incident as the clinic itself says it will take ‘all appropriate steps’ to investigate the alleged breach.
The CEO of the London Clinic has vowed ‘all appropriate investigatory, regulatory and disciplinary steps will be taken’ as it investigates the data breach claims. Its chief executive, Al Russell, finally broke his silence this afternoon, saying in a statement: ‘Everyone at the London Clinic is acutely aware of our individual, professional, ethical and legal duties with regards to patient confidentiality. We take enormous pride in the outstanding care and discretion we aim to deliver for all our patients that put their trust in us every day. We have systems in place to monitor management of patient information and, in the case of any breach, all appropriate investigatory, regulatory and disciplinary steps will be taken. There is no place at our hospital for those who intentionally breach the trust of any of our patients or colleagues.’
The Princess is said to be aware of the allegations, while a spokesperson for Kensington Palace said: ‘This is a matter for the London Clinic.’
Royal experts say Kate has likely been left shocked by the news of the alleged data breach – but will be too busy focusing on her own recovery to let it get to her. Ingrid Seward, royal biographer and editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine, told the Mirror the news will have come as ‘a shock to the palace, a shock to the Princess and a shock to her husband and (to her) father-in-law, the King. For the London Clinic, it is an embarrassment of the worst kind and they will do their best to appease everyone concerned. As for Catherine it is another emotional upset; she is going to have to put behind her. She is far stronger than she looks. She will not allow her battered emotions to get the better of her.’
What’s weird, to me, is all of the performative pearl-clutching from the British media, like they didn’t regularly and illegally access celebrities’ medical records, which they would then publish in gory detail. And again, many of the tabloids would have likely tried to buy any information from clinic workers who accessed Kate’s records. Although, arguably, they’re getting more mileage out of turning this story into a “Poor Kate, people are being so cruel to her!” Anyway, let’s just sit back and wait for this particular issue to play out because I’m not sure everything is as it seems.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
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- The Princess of Wales arrives for a visit to the We Are Farming Minds Charity at Kings Pitt Farm Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Hereford, United Kingdom When: 14 Sep 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Princess of Wales during her visit to Streets of Growth, a not-for-profit youth intervention charity in east London which is working to transform the lives of young people at risk of becoming trapped in a cycle of isolation, exploitation, violence and criminality. Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: London, United Kingdom When: 19 Sep 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Princess of Wales visits AW Hainsworth in Leeds, a family-owned heritage textile mill which was established in 1783 and manufactures British woollen cloth, high-performing technical textiles, and iconic fabrics. Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Leeds, United Kingdom When: 26 Sep 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- Catherine, Princess of Wales visits AW Hainsworth in Pudsey, Leeds, a family-owned heritage textile mill which was established in 1783 and manufactures British woollen cloth, high-performing technical textiles, and iconic fabrics Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Pudsey, Leeds, United Kingbom When: 26 Sep 2023 Credit: John Rainford/Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE UK**
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- The Princess of Wales, Patron of the Rugby Football League, takes part in a wheelchair rugby session during a visit to the Allam Sports Centre at the University of Hull to take part in a Rugby League Inclusivity Day hosted by the Rugby Football League Hull FC and the university. Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Hull, United Kingdom When: 05 Oct 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Prince and Princess of Wales arrive at Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre to take part in a SportsAid mental fitness workshop Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince William, Prince of Wales Where: Marlow, United Kingbom When: 12 Oct 2023 Credit: John Rainford/Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE UK**
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- Kate Middleton Catherine Princess of Wales to the Royal Variety Performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London, during the second day of the three day visit to London. Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: London, United Kingdom When: 30 Nov 2023 Credit: Dutch Press Photo/Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE NETHERLANDS OR FRANCE**
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- The Prince of Wales (left) drives away from the London Clinic, in central London, where the Princess of Wales is recovering after undergoing successful abdominal surgery. She was admitted to The London Clinic on Tuesday for the planned procedure Featuring: William, Prince Of Wales Where: London, United Kingdom When: 18 Jan 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
According to some this happened in December early January and they are just now bringing this to light. My guess is they are using this to cover for all the fakery with photos and videos.
Presumably this attempted breach is different from the December 3rd 2023 report of “hackers” trying to get her medical records for ransom. Are these the reports you allude to?
Yeah, I’ve been reading that there are two alleged incidents at play here – the one in December, and then something more recent.
It’s william trying to pay employees for ransom to get back whatever he/she wants to keep secret. If not, many things kkkhate does I dont agree with, but stealing to try releasing her private medical condition is a no no in my book.
In early December, the King Edward VII hospital was hacked with ransomware. It was a extortion kind of data breach where the hackers threaten to reveal/sell data unless they get paid. I am not sure if that has anything to do with what’s now being talked about at London Clinic. What I did read is that illegal access of medical records is a criminal act. So if this did happen, there would be a arrest, I assume? And yeah I’m sure this is a delayed story. But the only question is: how could they be so smart to hold a sympathetic story yet be so stupid as to need the sympathetic story in the first place?
They need to worry if a foreign entity has gotten a hold of Kate’s medical records and they may be used to blackmail the Crown. If the breach was in December it would coincide with the lights and sirens outside Sandringham.
The hacker thing was reported at the start of December and the ambulance thing was 28 December. Which… it strikes me as weird someone was trying to hack her records before we even knew there was any sort of supposed medical issue? Was there a hospital visit in November we are unaware of maybe?
I keep thinking with this recent one – seems like maybe the staff there saw the reports, thought ‘that’s weird I have not seen her here and no one that works here has mentioned she’s here’ and we’re trying to find out whether she was even there?
Absolutely agree with this article on the timing tho, so transparent. As was the timing of the farm shop video, the Carole picture, the mother’s day picture…
Would someone really offer enough money to tempt someone to risk their job and jail this way just for info about Kate? This makes it seem like something major has happened and that PW is implicated. And this breach merely “shocks” Kate, but anything, anything H&M leaves her devastated and brooding years later.
Kate is still reeling from not receiving an Easter gift 5 years ago.
Of course, they would. Getting the scoop on Kate’s actual health problem would be worth a lot of money. They’d have to pick their target carefully – somebody who could get access, but who wasn’t paid too much.
Eurydice, I agree. The workers were clearly targeted because they were susceptible to a cash reward. Three people is a lot: 3 different attempts or 3 people in one attempt? Either way, the fact that KP isn’t revealing much makes the reward for information higher. It’s gross that these people were willing to risk their jobs to get it.
Whoops, edit: I think that KP wanted to keep their mouths shut about this. The terrible news cycle, plus a desire to discourage others from doing the same probably motivated them to make this public.
Oh, brother. I’ve had one of those ‘so sorry, we’ve had a data breach’ letters from a couple-three entities over the years, one of which was the hospital. I’ve held up remarkably well, thanks for asking. 🙄
Okay but was she even at the clinic? Are there actual records to be accessed? Maybe those people were looking to see if Kate had actually been there since they didn’t see her or her RPOs or her family.
Don’t get me wrong, if any employees without official permission were trying to look at her records they should be fired. But considering all of the shenanigans going in, I’m not convinced this isn’t just another lie to embiggen Kate and divert attention from William.
It’s impossible to access patient records without being instantly busted these days. EHR tracks every view. This seems like a planted story to locate Kate at the London Clinic, when she’s probably still rehabbing in Montreux without Wi-Fi at the Clinic des Alpes.
So the medical records story is to distract from the doubles at the farm story which was to distract from the frankenphoto stories which were to distract from Will skipping a memorial and a body turning up.
I swear, if they stick the landing and Kate (or ‘Kate’) appears at Easter so they can gaslight us about the whole thing I’m going to be so mad.
I don’t know if the London Clinic would lie about this serious a violation. It makes them look very bad. Hospitals tend to take patient privacy very seriously, even moreso for VIPs.
Meanwhile, Harry’s case against the Sun is going on. Coincidentally about this very type of thing.
The rags are all correct that Kate deserves to have her medical records remain private, but the cynic in me thinks that one of those rags likely paid those employees to access the records and pass the information to them.
Given how protected her records are/were, and how computer systems work these days, with extensive tracking and controls etc, I can’t imagine someone would have tried to access her records unless they knew there was a big payday waiting for them on the other side – i.e. from the tabloid press.
Maybe some people just are that curious/nosy/invasive, but anyone there would know that looking at her records without authorization would lead to an investigation, termination, possibly other consequences. Why risk it?
Right. And why would the tabloids risk it for Kate. It’s not like KP wouldn’t just throw her under the bus if it made her look bad. But it might be different if it would make PW look bad.
People aren’t just curious/nosy/invasive, they can also be stupid.
Honestly, this is something I’ve had to remind myself many times over the past few weeks. People can be really really stupid, LOL.
It’s apparently a trio being investigated. How were 3 people convinced to do something so stupid and easy to catch/prove?
I’m thinking she wasn’t there. Period. And the employees were trying to prove that to expose the hospital’s lies. I think that kind of whistle-blower behavior might explain 3 people doing this.
Or
Kate’s state was so bad that these people were trying to expose the BRF’s lies about her condition. Anti-Monarchists perhaps?
I think a small trio deciding to expose some institutional chicanary makes more sense with the rest of the story. Though maybe it’s money, I just don’t see anyone offering enough to make it worthwhile. Maybe a foreign entity, but not the tabs. There appears to have been a prior attempt that might have been a foreign entity, so maybe it was plan B to pay off workers. That doesn’t make sense with the rest of the story though– it doesn’t tie into the secrecy behind Kate’s health. I think it’s far more likely someone at the clinic wanted to expose some secrets and failed.
Think about it- if the Clinic was doing something nefarious, exposing that would be protected by whistle-blower laws, right? Which woukd make it worthwhile to peek.
This trio are accused of an attempted breach and not an actual one and so that would fit the likelihood that they did a search to see if she was still admitted (or if she ever was) and since there were no results, there was nothing to produce. But as she was a patient there in the past then the hospital would have to notify her under the GDPR. And they would have notified the palace within days of this happening so back in January. This information has been held back for a reason. And now deployed to try and gather pity.
Maybe someone already peeked at Charles’s and went back to see Kate? I follow a blogger who said Charles has pancreatic cancer without any links but saying it as fact and I wondered if someone had leaked some of Charles info somewhere… either way Kate would be a bigger payday as a leak given how much it has blown up in the press.
“Battered emotions” feels like a suggestive phrase…
Lots of subtext, just like that Tatler cover.
If Kate is “shocked,” then she’s also an idiot. If she didn’t expect intrusion on every level, then what did she think all that secrecy was about?
I think personnel who tried to access her records came too close to the truth – that Waity did not get admitted into TLC, nor did she have surgery there. Hence the panic.
Did she have surgery someplace else? I now doubt it. At first, I thought that would have been too big and too stupid a lie for KP to orchestrate, but apparently no lie is too big or too stupid for them.
“Does it feel like the story has been conveniently timed to generate sympathy for a princess in the middle of a months-long newscycle of dysfunction and lies?”
Absolutely. I have no doubt that the press tried to get Meghan’s medical records while she was in the UK. And the same press took Meghan’s private letter to her father and published it. So they can miss me with this hand wringing.
As Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex once said, nothing’s as it seems behind the scenes.
As little snippets of information start leaking, like the recent photo scandal, it’s interesting to watch KP and the press coordinate to try to stuff it back in its box. So far both institutions are aligned (god knows why) but I wonder if we’re starting to see cracks in this alignment? I wonder how much longer the press will continue to prop up the lazy heir to the throne? I wonder how much longer the press will continue to allow said lazy heir to dictate their relationship, how much access the press has, how the press has to put a gloss and shine on the lies and cover ups? The next few years will be interesting to watch.
“She is far stronger than she looks. She will not let her battered emotions to get the better of her.”
Seward got the wrong princess tho.
I can’t help wondering. Are they making scapegoats out of staffers they want to get rid of and this is convenient? Or did they really try to look?
Hope it’s not a repeat of that poor nurse who appeared to kill herself after prank phone callers got her to reveal Kate’s hyperemesis issues. (In Russia, they’d just throw you out of a window.)
Offs, it was the bloke in the red suit with a big white beard. He wanted to see if he could give her a personality for Christmas, because the elves told him they couldn’t find one on her scan.
Hahahaha!
uh…there’s a difference between sienna miller’s inner circle selling her out and people who work in a professional setting literally illegally accessing someone’s private medical records for information. also a big difference from the british media hacking phones and employees at an institution looking into medical records illegally. if this is true, then her privacy is violated (as with any patient who is in that clinic and had this happen to them), and a big deal. protecting medical privacy is a big deal and i feel sorry for her if people want to find out intimate details of her illness for curiosity or to sell it.
I don’t think anyone is advocating for illegally accessing medical files. It’s obviously wrong. What’s interesting is the way it’s being reported (by hypocritical tabloids) and its timing. If the alleged incident happened back in January, how is the investigation still ongoing? Were they not caught immediately? How is it a group of *three* people would do this very stupid thing? And why is this being reported on now?
Consequences, Peg. When you choose to act secretive like North Korea, people are going to search for the truth. I wonder what the staffers found.
Deflection, and smoke and mirrors is what it is. No one attempted anything, this is used for sympathy on Kate after the photoshop fiasco.