The Royal Family has faced criticism for their “deafening silence” following Team GB’s recent Olympic success, according to royal insiders.
Keely Hodgkinson secured gold in the women’s 800m final at the Paris Olympics on Monday, marking Team GB’s first athletics gold since Mo Farah’s double win in Rio 2016.
Hodgkinson had previously won silver as a teenager in Tokyo.
Despite the significance of her victory, the Royal Family’s social media channels remained unusually quiet.
During the 2024 Paris Olympics, members of the Royal Family had been notably active. Queen Camilla had posted a congratulatory message for Team GB’s equestrian team, while Prince William and Princess Kate acknowledged Tom Pidcock’s gold in mountain biking.
Princess Anne and the Duchess of Edinburgh even travelled to Paris to support the team, with Anne being an International Olympic Committee member and Sophie serving as the royal patron of the British Cycling Federation.
Sources told The Mail that the decision of the Royal Family to not publicly congratulate Hodkinson felt like “deafening silence”.
Currently, the Royal Family is on their summer holidays, with the King and Queen, as well as the Prince and Princess of Wales, scheduled to travel to Balmoral Castle this month.
It appears that the royal PR teams might also be enjoying a break. Nevertheless, the Royal Family has made statements about other non-Olympic events, such as Princess Kate’s congratulatory note to Andy Murray on his final Wimbledon tournament and Prince William’s thank-you to Gareth Southgate for his tenure as England FC manager.
