There are so many people newly tuning in to the royal sh-tshow and they all have so many opinions and theories. I love that, and I love that there are so many eyes on this unfolding catastrophe, and it’s thrilling to have so many people engaged with something we’ve been covering here for many, many years. I have one note for the new peeps: the idea that the Princess of Wales would suddenly “leave” her husband or that all of this is happening because Kate has “had enough” is the wrong gossip-thread to go down. Kate would never leave William. She would never ask for a divorce. She is in this marriage until William is done with her. Whatever is happening right now – and I truly don’t have any exclusive information on this – is happening because of William’s actions, his behavior, his attempts to get Kate out of the way, to marginalize her or divorce her. Speaking of, it does feel like there are significant efforts to soft-launch a divorce or the idea of Kate’s withdrawal from public life. For example, this very interesting Page Six piece:

Royal insiders fear Kate Middleton’s Photoshop scandal is taking a toll on her recovery from the abdominal surgery which has sidelined her from royal duties — and made her health the focus of intense speculation. The Princess of Wales looked strained as she sat next to Prince William Monday, gazing out of the window, prompting comparisons in royal circles to photos of her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana.

One well-placed royal source told Page Six, “It’s an awful lot to be under all of this public scrutiny when you are recovering from major surgery.

“The rumor mill — particularly on social media — has gotten out of control, but Kate is recovering well and she will be back by Easter. She just needs to be left in peace.”

Another palace insider mused, “I worry about all this attention on Catherine. She did not look happy at all in the car on Monday.”

The insider added that it reminded them of photographs of Diana looking upset as she sat next to her former husband, King Charles, at the height of their marriage crisis. One famous photo saw the couple sitting together on an official visit to Seoul, South Korea, in November 1992. the tension etched across their faces. They announced their official split a month later.

Kensington Palace had stated that Kate would be expected back to public life at Easter after having her planned surgery and are continuing to stick to this while trying to quell rumors.

Global PR and marketing expert Mark Borkowski said the entire affair has shown up how the royal family fares when Kate, the “box office” attraction, is out of commission. “It does focus on William’s decisions about how he calls the shots on how they manage the press… this shows a complete disengagement with the media.”

[From Page Six]

Yep, Borkowski is right in this narrow instance – this is William’s (mis)management of the press, and William has clearly signaled that Kate is being thrown under the bus, that Kate is expendable, that Kate can and will be used to protect him. Evoking Diana and the previous Wales divorce is being done on purpose too. I’m not saying KP wrote this Page Six blurb, but royalists in the UK and North America can read the tea leaves and we understand what’s happening this week.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.