Have you heard the news? Princess Catherine of Wales, formerly Kate Middleton, seems to be missing.

Kate hasn’t been seen in public since several weeks before she reportedly underwent abdominal surgery, a fact that first made the internet alarmed and then, later, very amused.

Over the past week, a series of highly questionable photos of Kate have made their way to the public, culminating in one picture that was so heavily and amateurishly Photoshopped that multiple photo agencies, including the AP and Reuters, issued a kill notice for it.

The Palace appears to be trying in a very hamfisted way to cover something up. Instead, they only fueled the internet’s appetite for gossip. The story has crossed from the group chats of royal watchers into the mainstream media. Even Colbert’s on it as of Tuesday night.

That’s because this surreal saga is about more than any one illness, any one photograph, or even any one princess.

The British royal family theoretically has a sophisticated apparatus in place to manage their reputations and the reputation of the throne. So for them to bungle a story as badly as they have bungled this one is fascinating.

What’s perhaps most fascinating about it is that they seem to have messed up in the first place in an attempt to protect Kate and her privacy — which raises all sorts of questions about whom the British throne is willing to protect, and whom they throw to the wolves instead.

© Vox