From Kate Middleton to Avril Lavigne — here's why conspiracy theories are never 'harmless'

After months out of the public eye, Middleton’s team posted a photo on Mother’s Day that had been poorly edited and conspiracy theories went into overdrive. 

Rather than accept that Middleton was, as she said, recovering from abdominal surgery and experimenting with Photoshop, the rumour mill went into overdrive.

Theories ran the gamut from silly to downright sinister with social media speculation on body doubles and plastic surgery to death, abduction and disappearance. Loose-lipped true crime fans everywhere were foaming at the mouth.

On March 22, the palace was forced to address the rumours head-on. A clip of Kate Middleton was released, announcing in her own words, that she had been receiving preventative chemotherapy after cancer was found following her surgery earlier that year. 

The reason for the secrecy? Taking some time to come to terms with the diagnosis herself and then explaining it to her young children, aged 10, 8 and 5, before sharing it with the public.

Assistant Professor at the University of Nottingham, Dr Daniel Jolley’s field is the social and psychological consequences of conspiracy theories.

A conspiracy theory involves “trying to explain an issue as the result of actions of powerful forces rather than normal, everyday activities,” he says.

“It can be the government but it can also be any group with a shared consensus or those that seem to threaten your values.”

Jolley has conducted several studies investigating the psychology behind conspiracy theories.

“If you’re perceiving the world through a conspiratorial lens, that is going to govern who you are, who your friends are, and how you interact with other people.”

Pre-existing beliefs, specific personality traits and exposure to certain types of content can lead individuals to embrace conspiracy theories as a way to cope with uncertainty and inequality, Jolley says.

Widescale issues like immigration and vaccines hold universal appeal but what drives the fascination with celebrities, who under normal circumstances, we would be, at most, ambivalent about?

Community building plays a role, says Jolley. It’s why as a non-watcher of Love Island, I migrate south for the summer. Everybody is talking about it and (cue tiny violin) I feel left out.

Something that’s not really talked about is how entertaining a conspiracy theory can be, says Jolley and this is a major draw or distraction from the mundanity of normal life.

“It’s exciting. It feels like a movie where you can take the role of detective and you fill in the blanks. It’s very emotive in that way.”

My political views sway towards the left. I’m not anti-vaccine, I welcome asylum seekers and I absolutely believe that climate change is real and man-made ... but there is a small part of me that enjoys pondering whether Lea Michele can’t read, Avril Lavigne has been replaced by an imposter or Taylor Swift is a Psy-Op and one of the Pentagon’s greatest assets.

It’s the same reason I love true crime and murder mysteries. It flexes the part of the brain that connects the dots.

A study in 2020 found 38% of tweets about covid-19 and 5G linked the two topics. The most popular web sources disseminating this information were fake news websites whose sole aim was to spread the conspiracy theory.

Conspiracy theories are rooted in beliefs, says Jolley but can impact behaviours: “Being exposed to conspiracy theories on groups such as Jewish people, or immigrants, can increase prejudice, negativity, and discrimination towards that group.

“In recent work, we’ve demonstrated that if someone has a higher level of hostile sexism whereby they see women in a negative light, being exposed to conspiracy theories that feminists are out to get men matches their view of the world.”

Upholding these views on women reinforces rape myth acceptance in society, Jolley says.

If, pre-internet, we had a tendency to write off conspiracy theorists as incapable of mass mobilisation, the immediacy and reach of the internet has allowed these groups to seek each other out. Think the Dublin riots, the storming of the Capitol in the US, and the plot to destruct the 5G mast in London.

Turning to conspiracy theories can be a way to cope with crises, says Jolley.

“It’s trying to make sense of the complex world that we live in, a crisis like covid, job failures or a relationship breakdown, something that frustrates the needs that we have to feel certain, to be in control.”

Were the conspiracy theories surrounding Kate Middleton less damaging than say, the QAnon theories?

Karen Douglas is Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Kent.

“Some conspiracy theories might seem harmless and purely entertaining, and this looks like one of those cases, but it is part of a bigger issue in which many people just don’t trust the media, government, and other institutions, and become more prepared to endorse these alternative ideas.”

Conspiracy theories can vacillate wildly but there is one common factor, says Douglas.

“Research does suggest that if a person believes in one conspiracy theory, they are more likely to entertain others, she says, even on completely unrelated topics and even when they are about the same topic but directly contradict each other.”

The conspiracy theories that surrounded Kate Middleton’s absence from the media, whether it was the Brazilian butt lift, Banksy or the bangs gone wrong theory may have appeared harmless at first glance.

Someone who knows that what starts as harmless may spiral into something much more sinister is Aoife Gallagher, author of Web of Lies: The Lure and Danger of Conspiracy Theories.

In her book, Gallagher looks at some of the more widely believed conspiracy theories (QAnon’s Pizzagate) to the more fantastical, namely, the Dublin-based anti-lockdown protester claiming RTÉ’s celebrities were killing babies and harvesting chemicals in their blood for rejuvenation.

Another salient point in Gallagher’s book is the rise of “bad experts,” the so-called scientists and coaches who use their influence to endorse baseless conspiracy theories.

Remember Russell Brand’s response to The Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches documentary with accounts from four women who claim to have been sexually assaulted by the actor?

In a video clip posted to his YouTube channel, he described the documentary as a “coordinated attack” by the media to undermine his political views, inviting his audience to ask themselves, “Is there another agenda at play?” 

This, after a decade spent reinventing himself as an anti-establishment wellness guru, peddling conspiracy theories all the while.

Blake Lively is among the celebrities who has since apologised for joking about the Kate Middleton Photoshop fail. Just like Lively, I am now “mortified” for buying into the drama.