The View Hosts ‘Feel Awful’ After Promoting Conspiracy Theories Amid Kate Middleton Cancer Diagnosis

The turnabout comes after Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin, and Alyssa Farah Griffin lightheartedly broke down potential conspiracies last week regarding Middleton’s status following her disappearance from the public eye, including dissecting an infamously altered photograph of Middleton and her children, as well as speaking suppositions about potential body doubles. They addressed their regret on Monday’s episode.

“I’m guilty of having gotten into the fun of ‘Where’s Kate?’ and thinking it’s funny and sharing the memes and playing into that, and I forgot something fundamental that we all know: every person, whether they’re a princess, somebody in a high-privileged position, or just the person next to you, is dealing with personal struggles that we don’t know about. I send my love to her and strength to her,” Griffin, who previously worked on the Trump White House communications team,” said. “Sure, the Palace totally mishandled the PR of this, but the public mishandled it…. I didn’t think [that] there’s something more serious here that she’s dealing with. I feel awful over it.”

Haines called Middleton’s diagnosis — which the princess revealed came during an abdominal surgery in January — a “heart-wrenching” development, and said that she, too, became skeptical because of the Palace’s handling of the situation.

“You just never know what someone is going through. I’ve always questioned the way the Royal Family handles women, whether it was Princess Diana or Fergie or Meghan Markle,” Haines said. “I was not blaming Kate for what was going on, it really bothered me the way it was handled — whether it was my business or not could be debated.”

Ana Navarro also called this “a teachable moment” and that she learned a specific lesson: “When Whoopi Goldberg tells me to mind my own damn business, I will mind my own damn business from now on” and that she’s not going to weigh in on personal matters that aren’t her business in the future. “I’m going to shut my mouth,” Navarro told the audience.

Hostin, who specifically questioned additional photos of Middleton beyond the heavily publicized portrait of the royal and her children, initially made light of the cohosts’ treatment of the situation.

“I’m deeply remorseful that I allowed Sara Haines to drag me down the rabbit hole. I’m deeply remorseful that Alyssa also led me down the rabbit hole. I generally don’t care that much about the royals. I was very invested in how Meghan Markle says she was treated and that it almost drove her to death by suicide,” Hostin said. “The photos, I went down this crazy rabbit hole, thank you to my cohosts, and to myself, I have to take blame for that, because I also didn’t listen to Whoopi Goldberg, who told me to stop, and I didn’t. Here I am.”

Goldberg closed the segment by doubling down on what she’d told her cohosts in the past, after refusing to participate in a discussion about Middleton on the March 19 broadcast, and instead kicked her feet up on the table to communicate indifference.

“Once you’ve had this experience, it can scar you,” Goldberg said. “Everybody jumps on board, and there’s no way to stop it. People don’t want to hear the truth.”

After Middleton revealed her cancer diagnosis last week, putting an end to widespread discourse about her condition and health after she hadn’t made an official public appearance since late 2023, a slew of others issued apologies for discussing her whereabouts online, including Gossip Girl and A Simple Favor actress Blake Lively.

“I’m sure no one cares today, but I feel like I have to acknowledge this,” Lively wrote Friday in her Instagram Story. “I made a silly post around the ‘photoshop fails’ frenzy, and oh man, that post has me mortified today. I’m sorry. Sending love and well wishes to all, always.”