Royal-fans were quick to spot problems with the sweet family portrait of the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, and her three children which was taken by Prince William himself and distributed from Kensington Palace with the message "Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months. Wishing everyone a Happy Mother's Day. C".
The photo was distributed yesterday (Mother's day in the UK) not just by the family, but through Associated Press, Getty, Agence France (AFP), and Reuters. Afterward it sparked a flurry of attention amongst royal watchers (a not inconsiderable number of whom are conspiracy theorists at the best of times), all the more so because it was the first official photo since Christmas, and since some surgery.
In any case, the wider public was quick to spot that some of the cardigan on Princess Charlotte's left sleeve didn't line up properly – appearing like some clumsy work with the Healing Brush, Clone Stamp, or perhaps layering of images? Possibly some dubious AI?
AFP's dramatic phrasing was "Mandatory kill. Due to an editorial issue this photo by the Prince of Wales has been withdrawn … and may no longer by used in any manner. Please immediately remove it from all your online services, stop using it in any other fashion and delete it from your servers."
Associated Press told The Guardian that "Minor edits" are acceptable – cropping, toning and color adjustment" but the jist of it is the agency says photos must "maintain the authentic nature." Amongst the things they don't consider authentic, interestingly, are removal of red eye, or blurring of backgrounds – I'd be prepared to bet a lot of photographers would disagree there.
Only the UK agency the PA has not withdrawn the image, but instead told the BBC that it is "seeking urgent clarification." It isn't unusual for the Royal couple to stake their own photos and distribute them to the press in this way, but this has caused a spate of comedians on social media to come up with their own manipulated royal images online.
"I'd have gotten away with it if it wasn't for that pesky Photoshop!" #KateMiddleton pic.twitter.com/Oji2k6DzFyMarch 11, 2024
Who knows? Perhaps we'll see Prince William (in dark glasses, a big hat, and a false moustache – and possibly a newspaper with holes cut out – if my grasp of espionage from cartoons is anything to go by) at The Photography Show this weekend, looking to pick up some Photoshop tips to avoid something like this happening again!
To be fair to him, many of us have made mistakes like this. Perhaps the mistake is distributing via the agencies rather than simply posting to Instagram (which they did too). I'd hazard a guess that folk can be a bit more forgiving when the Royals use the same platform they do – though whether photographers can be quite so happy at the idea of Prince William stepping in on their turf is another matter!
In the last few minutes the Kensington Palace social feed has posted "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."
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