Health and Identity in between the Private and the Institutional. The Case of Catherine, the Princess of Wales
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24193/subbeph.2025.07Keywords:
private vs. institutional identity, body natural vs. body politic, health, identity management, advocacy, communication strategies, receptionAbstract
The singular objective of the present study is the examination of the relationship between private identity and institutional identity, labelled as ‘body natural’ & ‘body politic’ (Ernst Kantorowicz), with regard to Catherine Middleton’s oncologic experience in the period January 2024 - January 2025, as publicly announced by herself or by the Palace. With regard to the tense, dynamic and complex structural duality ‘private/institutional’, the subject becomes more visible than usual because illness makes this duality more conflicting: an ailing body is by definition natural and private but it is the political/institutional body that has to ‘communicate’ it, to make it public. The focus is on seven press releases that are to be interpreted as an identity management act, attempting to see which of the two identities is speaking, which is visible, which is dominant, which is protected by being back staged, which is used to benefit the other.
References
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Al Fayed v France, Application no. 38501/02, available at https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-83547
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Official Press Releases:
Prince and Princess of Wales. [@princeandprincessofwales]. Instagram. Available at https://www.instagram.com/princeandprincessofwales/?hl=en#
Prince and Princess of Wales. [@princeandprincessofwales]. (2024, January 17). A Statement from Kensington Palace. [official statement]. Instagram. Available at https://www.instagram.com/p/C2NDoYrN-9r/?hl=en
Prince and Princess of Wales. [@princeandprincessofwales]. (2024, January 29). [text] A Statement from Kensington Palace. [official statement] Instagram. Available at https://www.instagram.com/p/C2rvObRtlO8/?hl=en
Prince and Princess of Wales. [@princeandprincessofwales]. (2024, March 10). Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months. Wishing everyone a Happy Mother’s Day. C. [photograph and caption]. Instagram. Available at https://www.instagram.com/p/C4U_IqTNaqU/?hl=en
Prince and Princess of Wales. [@princeandprincessofwales]. (2024, March 22). A message from Catherine, The Princess of Wales. [video and subtitles]. Instagram. Available at https://www.instagram.com/p/C402JKPtLVB/?hl=en
Prince and Princess of Wales. [@princeandprincessofwales]. (2024, June 14). I have been blown away by all the kind messages of support and encouragement [...] [photograph and caption]. Instagram. Available at https://www.instagram.com/p/C8NCRQKt4fA/?hl=en
Prince and Princess of Wales. [@princeandprincessofwales]. (2024, September 9). A message from Catherine, The Princess of Wales. [video and caption]. Instagram. Available at https://www.instagram.com/p/C_s6SukNNne/?hl=en
Prince and Princess of Wales. [@princeandprincessofwales]. (2025, January 14). I wanted to take the opportunity to say thank you to the Royal Marsden [...]. [photograph and caption]. Instagram. Available at https://www.instagram.com/p/DE0BZyJN1kt/?hl=en
Newsmedia Websites:
www.bbc.com/
www.dailymail.com/
www.mirror.co.uk/
www.reuters.com/
www.theguardian.com/
www.thesun.co.uk/
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