The photo of Kate Middleton that turned us into conspiracy theorists. The mess with the photo of the Princess of Wales has antecedents in a Christmas greeting from the Spanish Royal House.

The speculations have ranged from the mournful, the lustful and the serious to the comic. The British royal family has not known how to respond to this very strange thing that was happening on the internet, and has pretended to be above tweeting. But that is a mistake: if you think you are above the networks, you will end up below them.