Mahira Khan slams Kate Middleton trolling

Recently, Kate, the Princess of Wales, revealed that she has cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy. The video announcement came after weeks of speculation spread on social media about her whereabouts and health since she was hospitalized in January for unspecified abdominal surgery.

The royal, 42, hadn’t been seen publicly since Christmas until video surfaced this week of her with her husband, Prince William, heir to the throne, walking from a farm shop near their Windsor home. As a result, many celebrities have spoken about and condemned the digital frenzy that surrounded Kate’s disappearance.

Pakistani superstar Mahira Khan took to X to pen, “I wonder how people feel when they sit and type crap about public personalities. When they spend days believing their own ridiculous conspiracy theories, talking smack and being mean. Life is the same for all. Painful and terrible at times. Be kinder than you feel. You have absolutely no idea what someone is dealing with.”

Hollywood star Blake Lively, who admitted to having partaken in the online trolling that surrounded the disappearance, took to her Instagram Stories to state, “I’m sure no one cares today but I feel like I have to acknowledge this. I made a silly post around the ‘photoshop fails’ frenzy, and oh man, that post has me mortified today. I’m sorry. Sending love and well wishes to all, always.”

American singer and songwriter Halsey, too, took to her IG Stories to pen a note regarding the ordeal. “Hope the people and media who sensationalized a woman’s desire for privacy following a known health incident are experiencing regret and remorse,” stated the musician scathingly. She continued, “And by the way, that would stand even without the terrible news of her journey.”

The singer continued to remark, “I understand that when you have a public life certain things like this can get out of hand. but God forbid someone needs a break for a few weeks or months, it’s no one’s business why. And with respect to public life, who you are and how you’re doing when you ‘sign up for this’ is subject to change at any moment. And the newly changed ‘you’ in place (for whatever amount of time; days weeks years) may not have the same stamina or tolerance.”

Jemima Goldsmith, who had initially called out the fact that many would regret joking about the situation, doubled down on her stance after news of Kate’s diagnosis broke. Her initial post on X read, “I fear that all the Kate and William ‘jokes’ on social media and especially the Stephen Colbert material are going to seem cruel and regrettable with hindsight. It’s too easy to forget especially on Twitter that these are real people.”

In light of recent events, she reshared the aforementioned post. “I hope everyone will now leave the Princess of Wales alone to recuperate in privacy with her family,” she stated. Furthermore, she wrote on the site formerly known as Twitter, “A lot of heartless people on here rapidly deleting tweets.”

The entire incident serves as a stark reminder of the vitality of being mindful in the digital sphere. While it is easy to poke fun and make light of most situations, exercising empathy and caution must also be prioritised in online spaces.

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