It’s been an eventful week for Kate Middleton.
Things got off to a rocky start thanks to an unexpected controversy sparked by a newspaper article.
As you may have heard, The Times of London ruffled with feathers with a headline reading, “Arise, Queen Kate: The princess’ friends and palace insiders on how she will change the royal family.”
“‘Kate will be a queen who really listens’ — by palace insiders,” read the headline on the online version of the article.
The controversy stems from the fact that Kate is not yet queen consort, and many felt that the article was disrespectful toward King Charles and his wife, Queen Camilla.
After all, Charles is battling cancer, and eagerly imagining a future in which he’ll be out of the picture is arguably in poor taste.
Anyway, Kate and Prince William countered the bad press with good today by making a surprise appearance at Charing Cross Hospital in West London.
The goal of the visit was to highlight the work of NHS workers amid a historically difficult flu season.
But as a bonus, the event also shifted the focus away from the “Arise” scandal.
We’re sure it wasn’t her intention, but Kate’s brief comments about her own battle with cancer ensured that the visit would make headlines.
One hospital employee explained that chemotherapy patients and visitors remain in the facility “for hours,” to which Princess Kate replied, “I know. We know” (via People).
“Both of us have had different experiences with hospitals. Me working with the air ambulance; Catherine with her recent health journey,” William said during the visit, adding:
“And coming here today and reminding ourselves just how important all the teams are, all the staff, the patients.
“It’s so heartwarming, and it’s so important that we kind of acknowledge and appreciate all that goes on in the NHS and that very strong bond between patient and carer.”
So it might be inappropriate to prematurely imagine Kate as queen — but weeks like this one remind us that she’ll be an expert and handling mini-controversies of this sort by the time she takes the throne.