The Mother’s Day photo posted by Kate Middleton continues to cause a stir as it was taken down shortly after being published due to editing issues.
“Professional photographer here. Look closely at Princess Charlotte’s wrist. This is what happens when you composite layers in Photoshop. I’m not speculating on why the photo was edited like this, but it’s weird,” portrait photographer Martin Bamford wrote on X.
The Princess took responsibility for the photo manipulation.
On her and William’s official X account, she wrote, “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. C.”
Kensington Palace later confirmed it would not reissue the original unedited photograph of Kate and her children.
The Associated Press, Reuters, Getty Images, and Agence France-Presse all issued “kill notices,” advisory notices to remove or not use a specific photo.
“It appears that the source has manipulated the image,” the Associated Press notification read.
DERBY, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 06: Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge visits students at the University of Derby to hear how the pandemic has impacted university life and what national measures have been put in place to support student mental health on October 6, 2020 in Derby, England. (Photo by Arthur Edwards – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
They also released a statement, saying, “The Associated Press initially published the photo, which was issued by Kensington Palace. The AP later retracted the image because at closer inspection, it appears that the source had manipulated the image in a way that did not meet AP’s photo standards. The photo shows an inconsistency in the alignment of Princess Charlotte’s left hand.”
According to royal expert Katie Nicholl, the Palace would be under much pressure following the issue with the photo.
“What’s so major in all of this is that four international picture agencies have killed this image. That’s really rare,” Nicholl said.
“I can’t think of a a time since I’ve been doing this job for the best part of 15 years where a royal image has been recalled. So that’s highly unusual. It might force Kensington Palace’s hand.”
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Media Show, Phil Chetwynd, AFP’s global news director, said that Kensington Palace is no longer a trusted source.
“No, absolutely not. Like with anything, when you’re let down by a source the bar is raised … We sent out notes to all our teams at the moment to be absolutely super more vigilant about the content coming across our desk — even from what we would call trusted sources,” he said, as reported by Deadline.
Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images
He added that kill notices are usually reserved for sources such as North Korea.
“To kill something on the basis of manipulation [is rare. We do it] once a year maybe, I hope less. The previous kills we’ve had have been from the North Korean news agency or the Iranian news agency,” Chetwynd added.
“One thing that’s really important is you cannot be distorting reality for the public. There’s a question of trust. And the big issue here is one of trust, and the lack of trust and the falling trust of the general public in institutions generally and in the media. And so it’s extremely important that a photo does represent broadly the reality that it’s seen in,” he concluded.
The issue with the edited image only added fuel to the fire because both Kate and the Palace have already been accused of not providing information regarding her health and her whereabouts.
Arthur Edwards, The Sun’s royal photographer said the Princess of Wales has learned a “tough and very public lesson” breaking the “golden rule.”
Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images
“It’s a golden rule that while you can crop a picture, you never, ever interfere with the image itself. Kate shouldn’t have done it, and she was right to put her hand up and admit to her mistake so quickly,” Edwards said, adding that social media have been overflowing with “disgusting bile and hateful comments about her.”
“Now the conspiracies are flying thick and fast — not that these people need any encouragement. These cheap shots at Kate will be upsetting for her.”
According to some experts, among which Edwards, the Palace could have put a stop to the speculations had they released the unedited version of the photo.
“But of course this comes amid all the speculation as to what’s happening with Kate, who, bar a brief picture yesterday and last week, none of us has seen since December. So many people — myself included — have been eager for an update on the Princess of Wales’s health since she underwent abdominal surgery in January.”
Edwards added, “A bodged attempt at photographic manipulation may have been, but I still think it’s a delightful image. Kate looks radiant and so proud on Mother’s Day, surrounded by her loving kids. It’s full of uplifting love and emotion.”
Zac Goodwin – Pool/Getty Images
Speaking to Fox, royal expert Hilary Fordwich said the palace is responsible for what she calls “yet another public relations disaster.”
“The certainty is that a ‘slimmed down monarchy’ means fewer are guiding the royals and those who are aren’t as media savvy as they need to be,” Fordwich said. “In our fast-paced world with tech-savvy media outlets, the palaces need to hire the best and brightest in such fields.
“While this certainly isn’t ‘business as usual’ nor what we would expect from a royal household… it shows great humility to admit one’s mistakes,” Fordwich continued. “Others might have either remained silent or tried to blame another. Kate issued a straight-up, no-nonsense apology. Many could learn a lesson from such.”
The question that raises is whether the Palace is doing enough to protect Kate Middleton, and according to royal expert and author Tom Bower, they are not.
Shirlaine Forrest/Getty Images
“People around the world just want to bring her down because it gives them pleasure. And then, when she did, they should have got a professional photographer in to make sure there were no hiccups like has now occurred,” Bower told The Sun.
He continued: “She’s undergone the most very serious operation imaginable. She needs a long time to recover. And I fear that she has been under terrible pressure to perform and instead of protecting her, her staff in Kensington Palace, failed to give her the support and protection she needs.”
Further, Bower believes that the Palace’s main focus should be help Kate recover completely instead of releasing more images.
“There are republicans and mischief makers who want to do everything now, to destroy the monarchy, to destroy Britain as it is today, who don’t share our values and see Kate as a soft target, an easy target and another target to seek to undermine British values and British tradition,” he added.
On March 22, Kate Middleton finally put a stop to the conspiracy theories when she posted a video in which she disclosed with the public that she’s receiving treatments for cancer.
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