Stephen Colbert has addressed his previous jokes about Kate Middleton and Prince William in the wake of the former’s cancer diagnosis announcement.
Colbert had joked about the Princess of Wales’ notorious altered photo on The Late Show on March 12, teasing, “these are all Photoshop errors and not, as many had assumed, the result of centuries of inbreeding,” per The Wrap.
However, Colbert caught a lot of heat for his remarks the following night, where he said on the March 13 episode of his show that “the Kingdom has been all a flutter about the seeming disappearance of Kate Middleton,” adding, “Well now, internet sleuths are guessing that Kate’s absence may be related to her husband, and the future King of England, William, having an affair.”
Saying that his “heart goes out to poor Kate,” he quickly changed his tune and exclaimed, “Now let’s dish the hot goss!”
He then brought up 2019 tabloid rumors that William was having an affair with the Marchioness of Cholmondeley, Rose Hanbury, which included claims that William allegedly “laughed it off” after reportedly being approached by Middleton about the fling.
“Always a good response when your wife accuses you of cheating,” Colbert quipped at the time.
Hanbury’s lawyers contacted CBS to contest the rumor-fueled jokes, telling In Touch, “The rumor appears to have entered into the mainstream media recently as a result of another joke made about it on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
“We have written on our client’s behalf to CBS and various other reputable media organizations to confirm that the allegation is false,” the statement continued.
Fast forward to Monday night (March 25), where Colbert conceded that he “tell[s] a lot of jokes,” a lot of which pertain to “what everybody’s talking about,” including “the mystery of Kate Middleton’s disappearance from public life.”
“And when I made those jokes, that upset some people, even before her diagnosis was revealed, and I can understand that,” he explained.
While he clarified that “a lot of [his] jokes have upset people in the past” and may continue to do so going forward, he noted, “There’s a standard that I try to hold myself to, and that is I do not make light of somebody else’s tragedy.”
Noting that he assumes she will receive “the best possible medical care,” he still said that a cancer diagnosis can be “harrowing” for both the patient and their family, and concluded by sharing “well wishes” from himself and his team at The Late Show, as well as their “heartfelt hope that [Middleton’s] recovery is swift and thorough.”
Colbert’s response arrives on the heels of The View co-anchors apologizing to Whoopi Goldberg on Monday morning’s (March 25) episode for falling into “the rabbit hole” of speculating about Middleton’s whereabouts.
Meanwhile, others have expressed their dismay over the rumors about Middleton, such as Kelly Ripa, who slammed the “internet sleuths” and “conspiracy theorists” on Live with Kelly and Mark on Monday.
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airs on CBS weeknights at 11:35/10:35c.
