This is one of the oldest gambits in the tabloid book. Run a big picture yarn about the “thin hair and small bald patch” of Helena Bonham Carter (49) then get one of your female columnar repertory company to write of how her “heart went out”. “Don’t mock women with hair loss – it’s so traumatic,” urges Sarah Vine. Or, just as hoary a gambit: “She’s going grey. Her eyeliner’s too thick. And most worrying for a new mum, she’s way too thin. To the growing army of viciously cruel Kate critics on the web, Amanda Platell has a message.”
You tie them in the stocks of supposed public derision, then fly to their side bearing tea and sympathy. Cruel, but usual, punishment. And, bewilderingly, you fill a few more pages that, presumably, keep women readers happy (because, yes, the Daily Mail is the only British national read by more women – 52.5% – than men).
