– A bit of a story

Princess Kate's illness announcement and recent photo nonsense made even Princess Diana's former partner raise an eyebrow.

Saturday 16 March at 21:06

King Charles (75) is on partial sick leave and receiving cancer treatment. Princess Kate (42 years old) is on sick leave after undergoing stomach surgery, and has not appeared in public since Christmas.

It is not known what kind of health problems the princess suffers from. But that didn't dampen the speculation when earlier this week she took to Instagram and admitted that she had edited the photo she posted on Sunday – which showed her and her children.

The British media dubbed the furore “Kit-gate”.

CNN He now has a royal home – expert Patrick Jephson (70) speaks out. He is skeptical about what is going on.

– out of control

Irish-born Jephson was Princess Diana's private secretary and chief of staff from 1988 to 1996, a year before her death.

– Even in the royal context, this has become a story, he says of what he is witnessing now.

Jephson, a former journalist, believes this occurs on two levels.

– Apparently, there is a family consisting of two prominent individuals, both of whom suffer from the disease. This in itself is not very strange, other than that it is troubling, Jephson says, noting that the king and princess “have constitutional obligations.”

– But what is this? also A story like this, he tells us, can spiral out of control — if you're not very lucky. It could escalate into a crisis of credibility.

Jephson told CNN that since the monarchy's mission is to ensure stability and security in an insecure world, it is right that the word “crisis” should now be used.

«Like many amateur photographers, I experiment with editing. I want to apologize for causing confusion about the family photo we shared as we left“, Kate admitted on InstaStory on Monday.

By then, major photo and news agencies had time to pull the photo because they realized it had been doctored.

Jephson says sources at Buckingham Palace believe this is unexpected.

– There may be some truth to that, but he believes that it is not an excuse that works more than once.

As Diana's secretary, Jephson had to handle crises himself several times. When asked what he thought the Royal House should do differently this time, he replied:

-You have to tell the truth, as much as you can. Jephson says this applies to all crises.

Jephson believes that because of the silence of the Royal House, an “information vacuum” has been created.

From a media standpoint, the information vacuum, especially today, is something that is quickly filled by social media. Jephson says that unpleasant and disturbing rumors are spreading, especially about Catherine.

Catherine is Princess Kate's given name, and it is the name she often uses herself.

Jephson also believes it is remarkable that the Royal Household has not revealed the type of cancer King Charles suffers from.

– Imagine that there was talk about the American President – that someone came out and said that he had cancer, but he did not want to say what type it was.

The 70-year-old also believes Prince William, 41, should have been more open about the situation surrounding his wife.

– What we see here is that the castle has lost control Narrationa novel. Instead of providing reassuring information about the King and Princess, whom people love so much, we hear or see nothing from Princess Catherine. Except for this disturbing picture, then.

According to British newspaper polls, Princess Kate is the most popular member of the royal family. At least she's soaked in it so far.

Jephson told CNN it was too early to say whether the situation would now lead Britons to change their minds.

– But when it turned out that the photo published on Sunday had been manipulated, it was not credible. The royal house expert believed that what was supposed to be good news that the princess was on the road to recovery, could not be trusted.