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Kate Middleton
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Kate Middleton released a heartbreaking video on Friday (March 22) revealing her cancer diagnosis — but that still wasn’t enough for some social media users who believe the clip was generated via artificial intelligence (AI).
In the video, Middleton sits on a bench outdoors wearing a striped sweater as she explains why she’s been missing from the public eye ever since undergoing a “planned abdominal surgery” back in January.
“It has been an incredibly tough couple of months for our entire family, but I have had a fantastic medical team who have taken great care of me for which I am so grateful,” she says, adding that she’s in the “early stages” of chemotherapy.
She continues, “William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family. As you can imagine, this has taken time. It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment, but most importantly, it has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte, and Louis, in a way that’s appropriate for them and to reassure them that I’m going to be okay.”
The Princess of Wales has been the subject of conspiracy theories for the last few weeks, all starting with a botched British Mother’s Day photo. Even celebrities like John Oliver jokingly speculated that she “died 18 months ago” and had been the victim of a royal cover-up. Despite releasing a video explanation of her absence from public appearances, some are still convinced that she and the royal family are not offering the full truth.
For instance, some users pointed out that Middleton’s striped sweater is similar to a sweater she wore in a 2016 video for the mental health campaign Heads Together, though it should be noted that the sweater she’s wearing in her 2024 video has longer sleeves than the original. Plus, some amateur sleuths noticed that her engagement ring briefly disappears as she moves her hand in one frame.
This has ultimately led people to believe that a deepfake of sorts was used in her cancer announcement.
“This Kate Middleton video is clearly AI but members of the public who aren’t familiar with the technology will be easily fooled,” one person wrote. “The overly blurred background doesn’t move. Not a single breeze moving a petal, leaf or blade of grass. It’s clearly not real.”
Another asked, “The question is: what are they hiding?”
However, just as many users came to Middleton’s defense.
“It was reported Kate filmed this on Wednesday w/ the BBC – likely in a studio w/ a green screen,” one person said. “Let her be – we have no empathy as a society anymore. She is a young mother with 3 children who fears like all of us. Stop scrutinizing her while she heals.”
Someone else added, “Utter drivel. This is exactly how England looked last Wednesday when it was filmed. And the ring doesn’t disappear it’s an effect of movement blurring. If you’re going to play detective at least be accurate.”
