Kate Middleton's Photo Editing Scandal Calls Into Question Other Royal Family Images
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A photo of Kate Middleton and her three children smiling released by Kensington Palace for UK Mother's Day inadvertently ignited a storm around the editing of royal photographs.
Shortly after the image was recalled by image agencies, the Princess of Wales apologized, writing, "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." But the message did not do much to quiet conspiracy theories.
In addition, Kate's admission that she occasionally experiments with editing led many news agencies, including CNN and Getty Images, to go back through other pictures released by the Palace. Here, all the images that have been called into question.
Kate's Mother's Day Photo
The editing issues flagged include the disappearance of Princess Charlotte's sleeve, the artificial pattern of the young princess's hair, Kate's zipper being misaligned, Prince Louis's sweater pattern repeating oddly, and more.
Per the New York Times, "Samora Bennett-Gager, an expert in photo retouching, identified multiple signs of image manipulation. The edges of Charlotte’s legs, he said, were unnaturally soft, suggesting that the background around them had been shifted. Catherine’s hand on the waist of her youngest son, Louis, is blurry, which he said could indicate that the image was taken from a separate frame of the shoot."
Queen Elizabeth 97th Birthday Photo
A photo shared by the Prince and Princess of Wales on what would've been Queen Elizabeth's 97th birthday shows the late monarch with some of her great-grandchildren and two of her grandchildren at Balmoral. The photo was taken by Kate, and following the reassessment of Palace handout images, an editor's note in Getty reads "Image has been digitally enhanced at source." Edits of the photo include changes to the sofa upholstery, a repeated curl pattern on Mia Tindall's hair, a weird cutout around Prince Louis, and more. (See an investigation into the edits, here.)
A Getty spokesperson said, "Getty Images is undertaking a review of handout images and in accordance with its editorial policy is placing an editor's note on images where the source has suggested they could be digitally enhanced."
The Wales Family Christmas Card 2023
While no official statements from photo agencies have been made regarding Kate and William's 2023 Christmas Card, many online have pointed out possible evidence of editing.
Photographs shared by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
Following the Kate photo drama, allegations arose that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released edited photos: Specifically, Archie's christening portrait, taken by Chris Allerton in 2019, and their second pregnancy announcement portrait, taken by Misan Harriman in 2021. Both photographers vehemently denied the allegations of editing, and they were soon retracted.
Of the christening portrait, Allerton said, "I would like to state very clearly and thus clarify matters that the photograph you are referring to, taken by me at Windsor Castle on July 6, 2019, has not been manipulated and was distributed to the best of my knowledge in adherence with the submission guidelines required by Getty Images, via the Palace press office." He added, "It would be utterly false and indeed defamatory to suggest that I had somehow changed or materially manipulated any of the subjects or content of the image."
Of the pregnancy announcement, Harriman said the accusations were "insidious and really dangerous journalism." He soon released the original, color portrait of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
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