Kate Middleton could receive a rare, controversial honor from Time magazine.

Considering Kate’s cancer battle and the scandal surrounding the initial cover-up, you’d think that 2024 is a year that she’d rather forget.

Instead, there’s a chance that the Princess of Wales’ name will be forever linked with this year.

Time‘s Person of the Year is one of the most polarizing magazine honors short of People‘s Sexiest Man Alive. But could Kate be the best choice?

Kate Middleton is on the short list for ‘Time’ magazine’s Person of the Year

On Monday, December 9, Today announced the short-list for the dubious Time Person of the Year honor.

As Princess of Wales, Kate has engaged in numerous charitable projects. By marrying William, she became one of several publicly funded mascots — effectively — for the United Kingdom, and a national symbol.

However, Time highlights one specific trait about Kate’s 2024: how she kick-started an important “conversation about privacy and health for public figures.”

We wouldn’t say that Kate is in good company or that she is in bad company when it comes to the rest of the short list. It is, as you can imagine if you know anything about Time‘s controversial choices, a bit of a mixed bag.

On the one hand, the short-list includes the likes of Yulia Navalnaya (widow of Alexei Navalny, whose death in a Russian prison many consider to be a political assassination), Fed chief Jerome Powell, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, and Vice President Kamala Harris.

But on the other hand, the list includes some of the most blighted names of the modern world. From disgraced former (and future) president Donald Trump to his cheerleader Elon Musk to feckless Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg to toxic manosphere influence Joe Rogan to wanted criminal Benjamin Netanyahu. Gross!

What are Time’s standards for Person of the Year?

Time doesn’t award Person of the Year based upon moral standing, but upon impact upon the world.

A fascist, a terrorist, a criminal — all of these and more can grace the cover. (Notably, Adolf Hitler was Person of the Year in the ’30s, while Bin Laden was merely an also-ran in the wake of 9/11)

Whether Time chooses Kate Middleton or a genocidal maniac this year, the criteria is simple: they select a person, group, or movement with a massive impact upon the world. In theory, someone curing cancer is just as likely a candidate as, say, an asteroid that slams into the Indian Ocean.

Time will announce the winner on Thursday, December 12.

2023’s winner was, memorably, Taylor Swift. She had a monumental 2023 — and is one of the most famous and influential people on the planet.

However, the choice of Taylor was controversial. In fact, any choice — no matter how beloved — will ignite a firestorm of discussion.

What ‘conversations’ did the Princess of Wales kickstart?

In early 2024, she underwent abdominal surgery. Apparently, this is when doctors discovered signs of cancer. The Royal firm chose to hide this from the public — the same public that pays for Kate’s protection and lifestyle. Eventually, the cover-up became so transparent that Kate opened up to the public about her diagnosis.

This ignited a firestorm of conversations about privacy. Whoopi Goldberg defended Kate, even before her diagnosis became public. Many highlighted that Kate was not the villain — but the Royal firm itself.

Kate Middleton is probably not the most inspirational name on the Time magazone short-list. But gosh, she sure is better than most.