Kate Middleton’s Mother’s Day portrait is not the first photo from the royals to end up in controversy over accusations it was digitally altered.
In an unexpected move, the Princess of Wales took the blame for altering an image with her three children this week in a rare statement after major international picture agencies pulled the photo over concerns it had been “manipulated”.
The snap, taken by Prince William, marked the first time Kate had spoken out publicly, or released a photo of herself, since her “planned” abdominal operation in January.
The editing fail has only further fuelled conspiracy theories surrounding the future Queen’s whereabouts and wellbeing.
Four years ago, it was Prince Harry and Meghan Markle who were accused of editing a family photo.
Social media users speculated the couple’s 2019 Christmas card with 𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚢 Archie was edited because Meghan appeared more in focus than Harry.
British tabloid The Daily Mail claimed its own analysis found Meghan’s face appeared to be “later added onto her body”.
The publication also quoted a photographer who claimed “something’s not right” and backed the argument “her face has been Photoshopped from another picture”.
But actress Janina Gavankar, who took the photo, quashed the rumours by speaking out in defence of the Sus𝓈ℯ𝓍es and sharing the original photo to social media.
It seemed an edited version had been fuelling Photoshop speculation, which Gavankar accused The Mail of creating.
“So proud to have taken the Christmas photo for one of my best friends and her family. Here’s the original that was sent out,” she wrote.
“ … and to The Mail, I see your campaign against my friend continues. Nice photoshop of my non-photoshopped image. Now may we all get back to the spirit of Christmas and not the spirit of maliciousness.”
Concerned royal fans have demanded Kensington Palace release the unedited photo of Kate to put a stop to the frenzy and restore the public’s trust.
However, the British press has reported Kensington Palace has refused to release the original photo, with palace sources only confirming a single image had been doctored, not several images spliced together.
One of the people calling for the palace to release the unedited photo is former Good Morning Britain host and royal family supporter Piers Morgan.
“The Palace should release the unedited photo of Kate & the kids asap. If it’s just a small bit of harmless retouching gone wrong, nobody will care. If they don’t release the original pic, the conspiracy theories they were trying to 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁, will get way worse,” Morgan wrote.
The British Press Photographers’ Association has called on the original photo to be released so they can access what has been done and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“Whether the picture was manipulated to ‘look nice’ by someone who didn’t understand the importance of truth in images or whether there is something else behind their actions is not as important as getting the message out there that it is wrong,” a statement said.
CNN said it was now reviewing all handout photos previously provided by Kensington Palace.
In her statement, Kate had 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.”
After a two-month disappearance from the public eye, Kate was seen for the first time since her January operation last week.
The last time the Princess was seen in public was Christmas Day, December 25 last year, when she and husband Prince William took their three children to a church service.
Kate is not due to not return to public duties until after Easter.
