It took Kensington Palace 13 hours to explain why Kate Middleton’s photo was digitally altered amid continued speculation about her health and whereabouts.
The world’s biggest photo agencies pulled a photograph issued by Kensington Palace of Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales and her children, saying it had been “manipulated”.
The doctored photo, released on Sunday to mark Mother’s Day, was the first official photo of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unstated condition nearly two months ago and was issued after weeks of speculation about her whereabouts.
BYPASS THE CENSORS
Sign up to get unfiltered news delivered straight to your inbox.
You can unsubscribe any time. By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use
Several major news agencies withdrew the image. The Associated Press (AP) Reuters, Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Getty Images all separately issued a “kill notice” to media organisations around the world, confirming that they had each deleted the image from their individual libraries.
Then on Monday the Princess of Wales reportedly took to social media to apologize for any confusion that had been caused.
In a tweet from Kensington Palace’s X account, the Princess of Wales said: “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day”
The photo was posted to the royal couple’s social media pages with the caption: “Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months. Wishing everyone a Happy Mother’s Day. C The Prince of Wales, 2024”
But an anomaly in the photo regarding Princess Charlotte’s left hand and the sleeve of her sweater were quickly pointed out.
Photo editors at Reuters claimed that part of the sleeve of Princess Charlotte’s cardigan and wrist did not line up properly which suggested the image had been altered.
Questions were also raised about other details in the image, including part of the background wall that did not appear to line up correctly, and the leaves on the tree in the background.
So if the palace was hoping that issuing an apology would be the end of it, they were wrong…
As the poke noted: the latest communication prompting a mixture of hilarity, bewilderment and disbelief – and more than a little sympathy for the woman at the heart of it.
1.
2.
3.
4.
