Richard Hogan: Kate Middleton frenzy reveals something terrible lurking in the human condition

A young woman needing time to heal from an illness, is nobody's business. And shame on all of us, for making it our business.

Kate Middleton //// Handout photo provided by Kensington Palace of the Princess of Wales recording her message announcing that following her abdominal surgery in January "tests after the operation found cancer had been present." Issue date: Friday March 22, 2024.

I have never had much of an interest in The Royal Family. I’m not against them or anything like that, just never really had an interest. I remember watching images of Charles as a kid in the 80s dancing with some tribe, thinking he was a hip and cool Prince. 

I also watched with amusement when The Queen visited the English Market in Cork. And when she uttered a few words as gaeilge, I thought it was a lovely gesture of inclusion and perhaps an end to all that English angst that was certainly a part of my childhood growing up in Cork.