The secret here is that he had coronavirus and it’s only just being revealed now.
Yesterday the Sun reported that Prince William had a bad case of COVID-19 back in April and “struggled to breathe”. Apparently he told someone at a public engagement recently even though it was never disclosed. The Sun’s headline about the story is pretty generous:
“Prince William COVID: Royal Battled virus in April and ‘struggled to breathe’ but kept it secret to not alarm nation”
Like it was a thoughtful act, you know? How considerate of him to think of the worries of other people.
Imagine if it were his brother who kept the secret, especially at the time, when it was critical to make sure people understood that this was a pandemic, how serious this sh-t was and continues to be. The headline wouldn’t have been about Prince Harry thinking for others. The headline would have been about a COVERUP.
So we’re learning now that William had coronavirus just after Prince Charles revealed that he tested positive and after Prime Minister Boris Johnson was hospitalised. Another way of saying it then is that as his father, the future king, and the leader of his nation fell ill, William wanted to appear strong. Because he was thinking of the people? Or because he was thinking about his own power?
Of course it’s terrible that William was sick. And it’s a relief that he got better. But this also gives us some insight into his leadership abilities. Because not only did he joke about coronavirus while on tour with Kate in Ireland just three short weeks before he himself contracted it, a lot of people back then, people William’s age, didn’t think it could happen to them. The assumption in the spring was that COVID only affected older people and public health officials around the world were trying to make it clear that the virus has an impact on EVERYONE.
I’ll put my hand up and admit that I too, in January and early February, totally underestimated the imminent crisis. But when all the science started lining up by mid to late February, there was no denying that this was some f-cked up sh-t that required all of us to responsible. And for Prince William, who is a statesman, who is a global representative, he has even more of a responsibility to keep citizens safe by promoting accurate information. This is what leaders do.
That speaks to the insensitive joke he made in March about coronavirus but it also speaks to the lack of transparency when he contracted the virus and in the months that followed. We’ve recently seen an example of a world leader’s lack of transparency around his own COVID-19 experience in Donald Trump that led to so much more confusion and misinformation.
William isn’t being nearly as flagrantly reprehensible in his handling of his disclosure as the Trump administration, obviously, but it does smell like there’s been some obfuscation here – and it’s a bad look. When you consider that he participated in almost a dozen virtual calls in that time, including Zoom conversations supporting healthcare workers and essential staff, as he himself was most certainly assisted by people in these fields, and failed to reveal that the virus doesn’t discriminate, and how vital it was for people to stay home to protect those in need and those who are caring for them, it’s shocking to the point of offensive that this is what he decided to do.
To say nothing of the fact that he recently stepped out with the Queen on official duty and DID NOT WEAR A MASK – which is what all health experts, up and down and around the world, have been trying to convince everyone to do for months!!!
So it speaks to how things work inside the royal institution and how information is shared and not shared…and what their motivations are. These are people who cherry-pick when they’re all about the people and when they’re all about themselves. When it suits them, they’re right up in your face telling you that they have a duty to care about the public. Five minutes later, when it suits them, they’re reminding you that they have a right to keep some things private by dressing it up as public concern.
William is claiming that he was trying not to cause panic. Are appearances more important that information? Yes, for them, appearances are always the most important.
