{"id":34953,"date":"2024-05-05T17:25:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-05T17:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/internet-jokers-regret-royal-rumors\/"},"modified":"2024-05-05T17:25:00","modified_gmt":"2024-05-05T17:25:00","slug":"internet-jokers-regret-royal-rumors","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/internet-jokers-regret-royal-rumors\/","title":{"rendered":"Internet Jokers Regret Royal Rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Because the British royal family lives under constant media scrutiny, it&rsquo;s usual for any member of the family to stay out of the limelight for an extended period. So, when Catherine of Wales hadn&rsquo;t been seen in public for months, and her Mother&rsquo;s Day photo was scrutinized as possibly being doctored, conspiracy theories began to proliferate.<\/p>\n\n<p>All these theories proved to be irresistible for online jokesters. &ldquo;Perhaps Kate Middleton had been using a body double, or was in a coma, or was engaged in an illicit tryst,&rdquo; people speculated online. Even American late night comedy hosts were getting in on the action.<\/p>\n\n<p>But it turns out the truth was much less exciting, and much scarier: Kate Middleton was undergoing chemotherapy treatments for a form of cancer.<\/p>\n\n<p>For many people, this news created a regretful reckoning. A 58-year-old woman named Dana spoke to reporters at <em>The Washington Post<\/em> about this. Dana had been joking with her friends about the Kate Middleton rumors; when she heard the truth, she was filled regret. She said, &ldquo;This woman&rsquo;s sick and afraid. And I just lost my mom to cancer. I am devastated at my inhumanity.&rdquo;<\/p>\n\n<p>Many of the online entertainment personalities simply ceased joking and moved on to other targets, but CBS&rsquo; late-night host took an extra step, apologizing during a segment of <em>The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. <\/em>He said:<\/p>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>There&rsquo;s a standard that I try to hold myself to. And that is I do not make light of somebody else&rsquo;s tragedy. Any cancer diagnosis is harrowing for the patient and for their family. Though I&rsquo;m sure they don&rsquo;t need it from me, I and everyone here at <em>The Late Show<\/em> would like to extend our well wishes and heartfelt hope that her recovery is swift and thorough.<\/p>\n<p>\n\n<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-article-subhead2\">Possible Preaching Angle:<\/h2>\n\n<p><em>Telling jokes can be a great way to bring levity to your friends, but take care that your jokes do not veer into harassment or defamation of character.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3717,3724,3957,3972,4002,4086,4181,4272,4310,4311,4368,4484,4546,4693,4863,4994,5012,5031,5171,5199,5292],"tax_ctp_topics":[395,396],"class_list":["post-34953","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-criticism","tax_ctp_tags-cruelty","tax_ctp_tags-falsehood","tax_ctp_tags-faultfinding","tax_ctp_tags-foolishness","tax_ctp_tags-gossip","tax_ctp_tags-human-nature","tax_ctp_tags-internet","tax_ctp_tags-judging","tax_ctp_tags-judging-others","tax_ctp_tags-lies","tax_ctp_tags-mocking","tax_ctp_tags-news-that-illustrates","tax_ctp_tags-prejudice","tax_ctp_tags-rumor","tax_ctp_tags-slander","tax_ctp_tags-social-media","tax_ctp_tags-speech","tax_ctp_tags-tongue","tax_ctp_tags-truth","tax_ctp_tags-words"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Internet Jokers Regret Royal Rumors - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/internet-jokers-regret-royal-rumors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Internet Jokers Regret Royal Rumors - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Because the British royal family lives under constant media scrutiny, it&rsquo;s usual for any member of the family to stay out of the limelight for an extended period. So, when Catherine of Wales hadn&rsquo;t been seen in public for months, and her Mother&rsquo;s Day photo was scrutinized as possibly being doctored, conspiracy theories began to Read more...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/internet-jokers-regret-royal-rumors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/ogimage.png?resize=1200,628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@CTpastors\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/internet-jokers-regret-royal-rumors\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/internet-jokers-regret-royal-rumors\/\",\"name\":\"Internet Jokers Regret Royal Rumors - CT Pastors\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-05T17:25:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-05T17:25:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/internet-jokers-regret-royal-rumors\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/internet-jokers-regret-royal-rumors\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/internet-jokers-regret-royal-rumors\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Internet Jokers Regret Royal Rumors\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\",\"name\":\"CT Pastors\",\"description\":\"Timeless wisdom for pastors with forward-thinking solutions\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Christianity Today\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg\",\"caption\":\"Christianity Today\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CTpastors\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Internet Jokers Regret Royal Rumors - CT Pastors","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/internet-jokers-regret-royal-rumors\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Internet Jokers Regret Royal Rumors - CT Pastors","og_description":"Because the British royal family lives under constant media scrutiny, it&rsquo;s usual for any member of the family to stay out of the limelight for an extended period. 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