Why are her medical records any more the business of the great unwashed than say mine or yours?
Why is her having an operation a dodgy dealing ?
All jokes aside, she is very likely to be the Queen Consort to the next King
very soon. Which puts her in a very real position of power. Not to mention the modern royal family are meant to be both culture leaders and servants of the British people, and receive state support and protections, thus there is a very high (completely reasonable) expectation of scrutiny and accountability. Not to the level of what occurred with Dianna and others in the past, mind, but still substantially higher than a common citizen of the UK or the commonwealth.
And, of all the current members of the royal family, she will have known what marrying William meant for her life beyond. Most accounts have her not only resigning herself to the rigours and obligations of royal life but actually actively pursuing them via her relationship with William. That is fine—many woman will have dreamed of doing the same, and she may very well be generally happy with her decision.
But no reasonable observer can argue she had no idea what she was getting herself into, especially given she wasn’t just with a random member of the royal family, she was with the eldest son of Princess Diana (who she would have know was very likely to become King one day). Kate was 15 when Diana died, so will have seen much of what occurred before, and certainly all of what happened after. This is what she signed on for.
Beyond all that, though, I think there is an obligation of disclosure for any member of the royal family at the top of the line of succession, particularly when members above are currently experiencing serious health issues. It could be as simple as a statement of the specific procedure, prognosis, and attestation of outcome. It is what occurred with King Charles and there was no scandal and very little consternation, even despite it actually likely being a much more serious situation from a constitutional implications point of view.
They couldn’t have done more of the opposite with Kate if they tried. Actually, saying that, if you were intentionally trying to create conditions for scandal and conspiracy, this is pretty much exactly how you would handle it. It has truly been shambolic.
Which itself is very much worthy of scrutiny and calls for further disclosure, even if it actually is nothing more than Kate trying to avoid perceived embarrassment. The fact that the Royal Household could fuck up so spectacularly is alone worthy of investigation. And if this is all intentional, for whatever reason, that is certainly deserving of inquiry, as well.
I don’t support this being a bigger story than many of the much more pressing and important situations currently occurring at home and abroad. But it is still a legitimate story that can coexist with all of the others.
Though, I personally hope it is put to bed soon.
Edit: in the interest of full disclosure, I am among those that support abolishing the monarchy altogether, so will obviously hold members of the royal family to account in the same way I do elected officials in positions of substantial power and privilege. I understand many hold different expectations of the levels of responsibility, transparency, and accountability that should be imposed on the royal family.
