Credit: Cat Casey via DALL-E 3 image generator
[Author Note: This article was published prior to Princess Kate announcing her cancer diagnosis. I want to extend support to her and the British royal family in this heartbreaking time. The fact that she felt compelled to share this private news underscores the thesis of this article.]
TMZ, metadata, and wild speculation about a missing royal are rarely used in the same breath. But here we are in the midst of KateGate. Avid fans of the royal family and anti-royalists alike have sent the virtual airwaves on fire with speculation following Kate Middleton’s, the Princess of Wales, 70-day disappearance from the public eye following abdominal surgery. Usually, royal gossip is not at the top of my daily reading, but as with every great conspiracy, the plot thickens.
Screenshot of the Associated Press’s “photo kill” call on the photo of the Princess of Wales that was found to be digitally altered. Image via AP Website
