Royal Central’s Deputy Editor, Jamie Samhan, gives her opinion on why we should stop scorning the Duchess of Cambridge.
It goes without saying, any person in a public role will be criticised. Day in and day out I read comments on articles about the Duchess of Cambridge that mostly make me roll my eyes, however, it is the recent ones that make me question humanity.
On 10 October, the Duchess of Cambridge made her first appearance after six weeks. The extended period away is due to the fact she is pregnant with her third child and suffers from a severe case of morning sickness called hyperemesis gravidarum. As a mother of two children close in age to Kate’s first two, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, I also dealt with bad morning sickness. I feel for her but could never even imagine the severity of what her symptoms are bringing.
Despite not being past the morning sickness, the Duchess of Cambridge joined her husband, Prince William and brother-in-law, Prince Harry at an evening reception at Buckingham Palace in support of World Mental Health Day, a cause that encompasses who they are and most of what The Royal Foundation focuses on.
This is where I find the irony.
The three royal have tirelessly been campaigning against ending the stigma surrounding mental health, not only have royal watchers, and fans got behind them but so have the public. They have dramatically changed the number of people reaching out for help with their Heads Together initiative and the Okay to Say Campaign featuring celebrities like Lady Gaga speaking about their own mental health as announced at an on Monday as Prince William learnt of the results of their hard work. So why have all these fans of the Duchess, who have vowed to help make a difference, now gone straight back to sitting behind their keyboards criticising Kate on World Mental Health Day of all days?
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Most of the complaints were focused on what the Duchess was wearing, the powder blue ‘Eclipse’ dress by Temperley London. Many called her out for her love of lace. These comments are what I previously commented on rolling my eyes at, but the jabber about how skinny she looks is taking it too far.
In case any are unaware of just how dangerous hyperemesis gravidarum is, most women lose at least 5% of their pre-pregnancy weight and are often hospitalised to avoid severe dehydration. So why would anyone in the right mind give her a hard time for not having a big enough bump? Even if she didn’t have morning sickness, it is still early enough in her pregnancy that her bump may not have “popped”.
Sure, the chances of Kate sitting down to read what royal watchers across Twitter have to say about her first appearance back is unlikely, but if anyone is serious about making a difference towards a better future of mental health bashing their crusader is not the way to go.
So next time you are curled up on your couch, Netflix on the telly in the background, scrolling through your Twitter, please remember words have power.
I just read that the author Charlotte Bronte May have died as a result of hyperemesis gravidarum.
Should say “may” not “May”.
Well said! Negativity goes nowhere and creates nothing good.
I cmpletely agree about the difficult and challenges with experiencing hyperemesis gravidarum. I had an extremely severe situation that was denied by my family and in-laws as ‘overacting’. I was as thin as the Duchess in my first pregnancy and losing weight, so my physician had me placed in the hospital for eight or nine days to receive fluids and rebalance my system. Afterward, because of my (former) husband’s complaints, my doctor informed him that he (the MD) was not certain I would survive due to the condition I was in when having been taken to the hospital.
As a future mother, I had no exceptional demands on my time after recovery but to rest and become healthy. The Duchess of Cambridge has the entire british empire watching her and many, feeling the freedom and luxury of anonymity to criticise her, do so regularly. It would be total justice that some day in each person’s future – who has done so – for them to be placed in such a mean-spirited spotlight.
(Though, I doubt the Duchess would be so unkind as to cherish my thought of due-process. She seems to be a very kind-hearted, generous person.)