'My spine remains unshivered': Richard Kay mocked for calling royals ‘threadbare’ after Kate Middleton and King Charles' hospitalizations

Richard Kay, the Editor At Large at the Daily Mail UK, published an op-ed about the hospitalization of King Charles and Kate Middleton on January 18, 2024. The headline of his op-ed read:

“The double blow of King Charles and our future Queen Kate’s medical treatment leaves the nation reeling… it sends a shiver down our spines and shows how threadbare royal resources are.”

The premise of Richard Kay’s op-ed was to share the news of the Princess of Wales's hospitalization post her abdominal surgery as well as the upcoming corrective of King Charles’ enlarged prostate next week.

Both the King and the Princess will require at least a month to recover fully from their respective procedures and cannot attend their public duties during this period.

Readers of the Daily Mail have reportedly found Kay’s op-ed unnecessarily exaggerated amidst other, more pressing concerns rising in the nation, including Sunak’s Yemen bombings and ongoing investigations in the Post Office scandal.

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Netizens mock Richard Kay for calling royals "threadbare" after Kate Middleton and King Charles' hospitalizations

Many of the readers have taken to X to mock Richard Kay, some of them calling him a “brown nose” for making reportedly non-threatening surgeries of the Royals seem like a crisis when their subjects are “cold and hungry”.

Here are some of the reactions:

Netizens react to Richard Kay's op-ed (Image via X/@k8tshires)

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Richard Kay’s op-ed discloses two Royal Health Bombshells

In his op-ed, Richard Kay disclosed that King Charles, who is currently 75, was diagnosed with an enlarged prostate on January 17 and had an operation – a corrective procedure – scheduled for it in the upcoming week. According to Kay, the King’s condition “is benign,” but for the recovery after the procedure, his public engagements will be postponed for a “short period,” as revealed by Buckingham Palace.

By sharing a detailed statement about his diagnosis, King Charles has broken age-old royal tradition – a protocol by the Palace that does not reveal the details about the monarch’s private medical issues.

According to the Daily Mail, the Royal sources expressed how the King was “very keen” to share his condition to encourage other men to get checked if they were experiencing any symptoms.

As per Daily Mail, Ali Orhan, the chief executive of Orchid – a UK charity for men affected by cancer, stated:

“Anything that shines a light on prostate conditions like this can only be a good thing. With a figurehead such as King Charles coming forward and speaking so openly about this condition, it helps to normalise it.”

He added:

“It also shows men that it doesn’t always have to be cancer and will drive more men to seek help if they have any symptoms.”

The Princess of Wales, on the other hand, underwent an abdominal surgery on January 16 at the London Clinic in Marylebone. While Kensington Palace didn’t reveal the details of her condition, they have confirmed it’s “non-cancerous”. Middleton will remain in a private hospital for two weeks before a lengthy period of recovery at home, according to Richard Kay.

Here’s what the official announcement at the Kensington Palace stated:

“Our much-respected princess has been advised to rest and remain away from her public engagements for a full two months – she’s unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter.”

Due to her recovery, the Princess of Wales will likely miss out on several high-profile events lined up in the next few months, including handing out shamrocks on the Irish Guards on St Patrick's Day – a long-standing royal tradition in March.