|
Neubauer Artists LLC Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... |
It’s a male colleague she meets in a corridor: “You see, I’ve never cared about this family, but now I’m so shocked by what’s happening to them.” It’s a very old lady who declares, outraged: “But why is it happening to a young mother? Cancer should be for people like me, at the end of their lives!” None of these people are British, none are particularly fans of the Windsors, but all seem to have taken the news of the Princess of Wales’ illness to heart. What is this wave of compassion the name of?
The first thing that strikes you is that she is alone: this woman who is always seen crossing crowds, walking arm in arm with her husband, or posing surrounded by her children, has chosen to experience this moment one-on-one with each spectator. Only those who are very familiar with the princess notice that she doesn’t quite have her usual face. Is it because this is the first time she doesn’t wear her wide and unchanging smile? Little or no makeup, she is paler than usual, her cheeks hollow, her hands nervously clasped on her crossed legs. She seems fragile, but her words are clear, precise, factual, without any showy effect. There is a kind of suspense between the moment when she explains that her operation went well and the moment when she confides, her voice a little strangled, that traces of a cancer have since been found that she must now treat. It is probably at this point in the video that everyone, collectively, begins to hold their breath. We look at this young and pretty woman, and what pierces the screen is the incongruity of this moment. Here we are, waiting for every scrap of information, every encouraging word, every mini-smile, as if we were waiting for the Princess of Wales to reassure us.
Three cancers in two months, isn’t that a bit much?
And this is where we can question the substance of this sequence. After this astonishing announcement, we all had a moment of disbelief. Already, this confession on camera, in a family that traditionally does not complain or explain anything, is unheard of. Of course, recently, the word “cancer” associated with the name “Windsor” has come up several times: Sarah Ferguson announced that they were affected by the disease, but via press releases, not sitting on a bench in front of a bed of daffodils. And then, after years of omerta on the state of health of the royals, three cancers in two months, isn’t that a bit much? What is happening in this clan where people continue to work, teeth clenched, until old age? Prince Philip died a few days before his hundredth birthday. Forty-eight hours before her death, Queen Elizabeth II , 96, shook the hand of the new Prime Minister, standing. We all grew up with the idea that if there is one immutable institution, with members as solid as rocks, it is this one. And suddenly, a young woman of 42, mother of three children, weakened in turn? A princess… mortal… really? After the disbelief, here comes the feeling of injustice. The one that any diagnosis of cancer triggers: who among us has not been touched by this disease, directly or indirectly? Who has not seen a loved one fight, hope, often recover, but sometimes leave far too soon? Behind Kate’s cancer, there are those of so many people we have loved and still love.
When Intimacy Disappears
Absent from this video are three children, whom we all thought about. George, Charlotte and Louis are 10, 8 and 5 years old respectively. Imagining their mother gathering them to tell them that things are “more complicated than expected” is heartbreaking: we put ourselves in their shoes as much as in their mother’s. What words to choose, how not to transmit her anxiety? Of course, it’s 2024, cancers are increasingly treatable, but, in the absence of details on the exact nature of Kate’s illness, who among us hasn’t thought: “What if she doesn’t make it?”
We almost felt bad for watching for oncologists to appear in the media, asked to give a diagnosis, when they don’t know any more than we do. Another absent-present in the video is William, even though Kate mentioned him twice. Here is a man who lost his mother at the age of 15, had a terrible falling out with his only brother , sees his father, whom he has no desire to succeed before his time, suffering from cancer and who now has to accompany his wife, his “rock”, through her illness. Talk about rotten karma. How, during this sequence, can we not look back at the weeks that preceded it with a feeling of unease? Since Kate disappeared from the radar, the craziest theories have circulated: cosmetic surgery, adultery, divorce, hidden death, to name a few. Suddenly, we understand why William skipped the mass in memory of his godfather, King Constantine of Greece, at the end of February: Kate had just received the results of her biopsy, and they were not good. Were only journalists who felt stupid for having commented, relayed, sometimes sniggered? Probably not, social networks have done so much worse! of the royal family’s communicators, Of course, the omerta inspired, it is said, by William, who is so wary of the media, did not help to silence the rumors, but ten days ago, after seeing Kate’s video, many of us felt embarrassed. In what world does a sick young woman find herself obliged to tell such intimate things to millions of strangers?
And yet, there is some positive in this sad episode. If Kate was very popular, she was almost said to be too bland, too perfect to really convince and touch. She probably lacked the raw emotion of Diana, this woman whose death age she has been six years past. In front of this camera, we saw a future queen who was certainly vulnerable but dignified and strong. A model of courage, whose speaking out has already led thousands of Britons to get diagnosed in turn. The conspiracy rumors have started up again? What does it matter. What has happened is indeed the birth of an icon.
About The Author
