Good Morning Britain hosts Richard Madeley and Susanna Reid came under fire this morning as they continued to discuss Princess Kate’s health. The pair’s comments come after Kate had asked for “time, space and privacy” while she gets on the road to recovery after the Princess revealed her cancer diagnosis.
They’d been speculating on whether Russia, China and Iran could be responsible for the spread of conspiracy theories concerning the senior royal to “destabilise the nation” – and Twitter erupted into fury over the continued focus on her. “#gmb Windsor crawling with press and reporters does not come into the category of leaving them in peace,” blasted one viewer.
“I’ve had to turn over from #gmb. All this coverage of cancer diagnosis is not news, and what happened to privacy?” another chimed in. “#GMB Dear god can you please focus on anything else happening in the news- I’m sure there must be huge things happening around the world,” a third groaned.
“Kate has put out a statement asking for privacy, so why the hell are gmb still talking about it know and getting trisha Goddard…seriously #gmb are a disgrace,” another added. Comparing the show to a soap opera, one angry viewer blasted they had “never ever watched one second longer than it takes to switch off”.
Although a couple tweeted that the coverage had been “respectful”, they were still concerned that she’d received “almost half an hour of constant footage”. “#gmb This lot were ripping Kate apart last week, and now they’re blaming China Russia and Iran. Take some responsibility and admit you lot are part of the problems?”
The debate follows a longstanding accusation that Kate has been disrespected by constant intrusion into her private life.
She was trolled over the heavy editing of a family photo earlier this month, while there were calls by conspiracy theorists to prove that she was still alive, after abdominal surgery forced her to step away from the public eye.
She caused alarm as she hadn’t appeared at any events since prior to last Christmas.
However, there has also been a positive side to the media coverage, as Susanna revealed that cancer charities had seen a “spike at the weekend of people seeking help and treatment”.
NHS cancer specialist Sinead Cope appeared on the show to report that there’d been more traffic on an awareness-raising website ever since the video statement, in the same way that King Charles’ comments earlier in the year prompted a prostate cancer discussion.
Susanna made it clear that for her, blame lies with “the hostile state”, elaborating that it “deliberately peddled lies on social media even continuing after Kate’s heartfelt video plea”.
Russia has also been under the spotlight for its fake announcement of King Charles’ death.
Meanwhile, the deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden is expected to discuss sanctions on China today following accusations of a spate of cyber attacks on MPs after the state was also thought to have accessed the personal details of 40 million voters.
