Sandringham

• Social media have been awash with speculation about Catherine’s health and whereabouts.
• As scrutiny reaches a fever pitch, we ask: why is the Palace’s typical media playbook no longer working?

Not so ‘unprecedented’

• Anne Boleyn (circa 1501-1536), the second of six wives of Henry VIII, was executed after being found guilty of adultery, incest and treason.
• The long-reigning Queen Victoria (1819-1901) was widely regarded as as a loyal wife and mother.
• Yet she too became the target of gossip regarding her close friendship with Scottish servant John Brown after her husband, Prince Albert, died in 1861.

The Palace’s strategic communications

• The royal family has gradually adjusted to new media and technologies, though not as quickly as the public might like.
• On one hand, the Palace continues its age-old tradition of announcing major news on a noticeboard at the gates of Buckingham Palace.

Internet sleuthing and a manipulated image

• There were also more serious claims that she was in a coma, or dead, or getting a divorce.
• In the midst of this speculation, TMZ published a grainy photo of Catherine in the passenger seat of a car near Windsor Castle.
• The public quickly realised the image was at best poorly photoshopped or at worst AI-generated.
• The Associated Press, Getty Images, AFP and Reuters subsequently issued “kill notices” on the image, stating concerns it had been digitally manipulated.

Old media PR won’t work in a new media world

• The situation with Catherine’s absence from public life exposes the limits of old media strategies in a “new media” world.
• The Palace is used to being able to control media coverage through the royal rota, a select group of press outlets in the UK given access to royal events.
• Yet the interest in Catherine’s health has prompted a number of statements to the press.
• These old media strategies don’t seem to be working, with news outlets that are part of the royal rota reporting critically on the manipulated image.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.