It’s never surprising when a famous person’s new look sparks online conversation. So, when Catherine, Princess of Wales (Kate Middleton to most of us) stepped out with a new head of blonde hair on Thursday, it quickly became a matter of breaking news for several publications.
The Princess of Wales has been a brunette for as long as we’ve known her, so the debut of an image revamp outside the Natural History Museum had people talking.
However, social media comment sections also found that the colour of Kate’s hair was not the only noticeable change – many have claimed that her new look comes courtesy of a wig.
‘LOL, that’s a wig,’ reads one of many comments, with countless others mocking the shape and styling of her hair in the various pieces of footage released from the paparazzi moment.
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As someone who’s been on the internet since childhood, I’m not surprised – I know that nothing’s off-limits when it comes to sharing unsolicited opinions on the web.
However, I do wish we’d exercise a little more restraint with vocalising these assumptions in such public forums – especially when we have context for why Kate is possibly using hair enhancements.
Kate announced last year that she’d been diagnosed with cancer after it was discovered by doctors during abdominal surgery. After that, she underwent a course of preventative chemotherapy and has made infrequent public appearances since.
One of the most common side effects of chemotherapy is hair loss, so it’s not impossible that Kate would use enhancements in the months and years afterwards. But either way, the onslaught of comments and critiques of this possibility is evidence of a lack of empathy in internet culture.
There are plenty of things to criticise the royals for, and I’m definitely no fan of the British monarchy – but thousands of people making the same public remark in a sort of ‘gotcha’ moment feels unnecessary, and implies that there is something wrong if Kate is wearing a wig.
