Prince William and Kate Middleton are facing backlash after the Cambridges were spotted out with another family, without wearing masks or social distancing.
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As you may remember, it was revealed a few months back that Prince William had been diagnosed with COVID-19 this past April, just a month after making fun of it.
Twitter users were quick to bring up the viral video from March of Willam joking about the virus and calling the whole pandemic “dramatic.”
In the video, you can hear Prince William say, “It does seem quite dramatic about the coronavirus. It is being a little hyped up, do you think, in the media?”
He then jokes about himself and his wife giving people coronavirus.
Obviously, the video aged like milk.
Since the news of Prince William’s illness broke, he and wife Kate Middleton have been practicing proper COVID-19 protocols.
Whenever fans see them, they’re rocking face masks and taking social distancing very seriously.
So when pictures surfaced of the royal family seemingly blowing off the U.K.’s strict COVID-19 policies by hanging out with Prince Edward and his family, fans were super angry.
According to the Daily Mail Prince William, Kate Middleton, and their three children ran into Prince Edward; Sophie, Countess of Wessex; and their two children.
After crossing paths, the group of nine walked an outdoor path together in Norfolk.
For those who don’t know, Norfolk is currently under Tier Two orders in the U.K., which limits outdoor gatherings to six people, including children.
“They were clearly breaking COVID rules, in my opinion, because there were nine of them from two separate households,” an onlooker told the publication.
“They were obviously all having a fun evening out. You could tell that the royal youngsters were having a great time. But I couldn’t help thinking that it was one rule for them and another for the rest of us. It was really quite blatant.”
The Daily Mail insisted that royal sources claim any contact was inadvertent.
They said, “The two families were given separate consecutive slots to visit the trail just before it opened to the general public. They arrived and departed in their own family groups. As anyone with young children will know, there were moments on the 90-minute walk where it was difficult to keep the two family groups apart, particularly at bottlenecks on the trail.”
Naturally, seeing the royal family break COVID-19 protocols angered a lot of fans.
“So two families out walking, no masks. Security around them plus the person taking the pics. They are a disgrace to try to pull a fast one over all the public to think we wouldn’t notice. They think that they are above the rules because of who they are,” replied @MandyThrall.
People pointed out the hypocrisy of the royal couple’s actions.
“Two families from two different households. Nine [altogether], plus their royal protection officers! They broke the rule of six,” pointed out @RaniofJustice.
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“The other family breached guidelines by traveling from one tier to another. Not the first time, they’ve broken the rules – certainly not the last.”
Naturally, Prince William’s “joke” about COVID soon came up.
“And William also made a joke in April about coronavirus being overblown and then he got it (but they didn’t tell anyone bc they knew he’d catch flak about the joke). But whatever. These two are so DULLLLL,” commented @A_A_Lou.
Needless to say, the different guidelines for different people is causing anger and controversy, especially during the holiday season.
What do you think of William and Kate breaking the rules? Let us know in the comments below!
