Catherine, Princess of Wales, smiles as she speaks to a woman during her visit to Sebby's Corner in north London on Nov. 24, 2023.Frank Augstein/The Associated Press
It was supposed to be a photo to allay concerns about the health of the Princess of Wales and offer a tribute to mothers, but instead it has turned into a public relations disaster that has raised questions about the trustworthiness of information from the royal household.
The Princess has acknowledged that she edited a family photo royal officials released on Sunday, which was Mother’s Day in Britain. The photo quickly caused a storm of controversy after some of the world’s largest news services pulled it from publication later that day because of concerns it had been manipulated.
“Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” Catherine wrote on X on Monday. “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.”
Kensington Palace said the photo was taken last week by the Prince of Wales. Royal officials had been hoping that the image of the smiling princess looking relaxed with Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis and Prince George would help quell rumours about her health.
Catherine, 42, has been out of the public eye since January when she had abdominal surgery. No details of the surgery have been released and officials have only said that she was expected to resume royal duties after Easter.
A timeline of Catherine, Princess of Wales’s abdominal surgery and recovery
Within hours of the photo’s release, Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse and three other global news services recalled the picture. “At closer inspection, it appears that the source has manipulated the image,” Associated Press said in a notice to media outlets.
Questions were raised about Charlotte’s sleeve and wrist, which appeared to have been altered along with Prince Louis’s fingers. Catherine was also not wearing a wedding ring and a tree in the background appeared to have leaves even though royal officials said the picture was taken last week.
The officials have told Britain’s PA news service that Catherine made “minor adjustments” to the photo and that she wanted to offer an informal picture of the family together for Mother’s Day.
Several inconsistencies were identified in the photo of Catherine, Princess of Wales, with her children, after it came to light that the picture had been manipulated, including a missing part on Charlotte's sleeve, Charlotte's hair ending abruptly on her shoulder and the zipper on the Princess of Wales being lighter than the rest of it.PRINCE OF WALES/Getty Images
A Reuters spokesperson said on Monday her touch-ups went too far and didn’t meet the service’s standards of image quality, prompting its withdrawal.
In a statement, Associated Press said that according to its news standards, minor edits to photos such as cropping and colour adjustments were acceptable when necessary for clear and accurate reproduction. However, changes in colour density, contrast and other edits that “substantially alter the original scene” were not acceptable.
The photo mix-up has been a public relations nightmare for the Royal Family, which is already grappling with health issues facing King Charles, who has been diagnosed with cancer.
Catherine’s health has been the subject of intense speculation which only heightened last month when her husband, William, the Prince of Wales, pulled out of attending a memorial service for Constantine II of Greece, the Prince’s godfather, who died last year. William cited “a personal matter” for not attending and didn’t provide further details, prompting another wave of intrigue about Catherine’s condition.
Sunday’s photograph was the first official picture of Catherine since her surgery. And if royal officials were hoping it would defuse the speculation, it clearly backfired.
“This is damaging for the royals,” Peter Hunt, the BBC’s former royal correspondent, wrote on X on Monday. “They knew there would be intense interest in any picture they released of Kate. Their challenge is that people will now question whether they can be trusted and believed when they next issue a health update.”
While the Royal Family often relies on professional photographers, Catherine has frequently taken pictures of her family that have been released to the public. One of her photos taken last Christmas caused similar controversy over questions that it had also been edited.
Ian Lloyd, an author and former royal photographer, said there is a long history of royal photographs being manipulated to make the subject look good, dating back to Queen Victoria. But he couldn’t recall a photo in modern times ever being rejected by news services.
“I must admit, I just looked at the photograph and I saw three happy, very, very happy children and their mother looking really well,” Mr. Lloyd said in an interview on Monday. “That message worked really well. It’s when you zoom in and get the detail that it goes awry. And somebody has not done a terribly good job with Photoshopping.”
The photograph was released on Sunday by Kensington Palace, which handles communications for the Prince and Princess of Wales, and carried specific terms for how it could be used by news services. Among the conditions was that the photograph could not be “digitally enhanced, manipulated or modified in any manner or form.”
Palace officials also said they will not release the original unedited photograph.
Catherine, Britain's Princess of Wales, issued an apology on social media on March 11 for 'any confusion' caused by an edited photograph which was issued by her office at Kensington Palace on March 10.
Reuters