Social media remains dominated by the nature of the absence and ailment of Catherine, the Princess of Wales.

The royal family’s secrecy surrounding the wife of heir to the British throne, Prince William, is strange. Yet, as with the recent botched release of an altered photograph of Catherine, I suspect the excess secrecy is a result of three other factors. First, Kate’s desire for privacy over publicity as she recovers from an unknown ailment that may require future treatment. (The princess has prioritized her privacy since first meeting William.) Second, the royal family and British upper class’s generally obsessive desire to conceal perceived vulnerability even when doing so makes the vulnerability appear worse than it is. And third, the inability and infighting of the royal family’s various media teams as they struggle to manage those two previous factors alongside a media landscape that expects maximum information at all times.