Kate, the brave! A response

The facts mentioned in Dr. Upul Wijayawardhana’s recent article titled Kate, the brave! have been hashed and rehashed by the world’s media, but his views are novel.

According to him, that edited photograph of Kate and her three children was launched by Kate “to calm the waters”; I suppose the waters were stirred up by assumptions and rumours regarding Kate’s surgery and treatment. He seems to think that the editing of the photograph is excusable because it has been done since the time of Queen Victoria. Of course, editing is done to impress and maybe even mislead the public.

The trouble with the editing of the photograph of Kate and her children is that it was incompetent. It stirred up the waters instead of calming them.

Of course, Kate apologised for the amateurish editing but the apology came after detection and uproar.

Does Dr. Wijayawardhana think critics should have maintained a deafening silence about the photograph? He says “over-reaction” on the part of news agencies made the photograph a disaster. No, it is that photograph that was a disaster; it was the photograph that led to the “over-reaction”, not the other way around. Dr. Wijayawardhana wonders whether there was a secret hand behind this action. Talk of conspiracy theories.

Kate’s short speech was touching. The whole world has heard it, and I am sure, wishes her well.

Dr. Wijayawardhana familiarly and affectionately calls Kate, Kate. However, he does not call Harry and Meghan by their names. They are Kate’s estranged brother-in-law and his American wife. Apparently, he finds their message to Kate intriguing. I find it simple and straightforward. Dr. Wijayawardhana’s message to Kate is direct: “Our hearts go out to you, Kate …” We all echo his words.

Siva Sambandar