Kensington Palace is under increasing pressure to reveal what parts of the Princess of Wales’s controversial Mother’s Day photo were edited as speculation about the image continues to spread on social media.
The palace has not commented since Kate publicly apologised over the image, taken by the Prince of Wales, featuring her and her children George, Charlotte and Louis, except to say it would not be releasing the original unedited photograph.
However, following a wave of online theories about how the image may have been doctored, there have been a number of calls for the original photo to be released.
Yahoo News UK has approached Kensington Palace for comment.
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
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) March 11, 2024
Kate made an unprecedented public apology on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday after claims the image had been digitally altered.
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.”
Royal sources said she made “minor adjustments” to the image, while Sky News reported that its examination of the photo’s metadata revealed it was saved in Adobe Photoshop twice on an Apple Mac on Friday and Saturday and the picture was taken on a Canon Camera.
What we know
At 9am on Sunday, Kensington Palace published the photo with Kate surrounded by her three children, George, 10, Charlotte, eight, and Louis, five. The photo was said to have been taken by Prince William last week at the family’s home in Windsor.
It was published on Sunday to coincide with Mother’s Day and to attempt to put an end to speculation about Kate’s health as the first official photo of her since her surgery in January. The last time Kate was photographed in public was on Christmas Day while attending a church service at the Royal Family’s Sandringham estate.
In the post, Kate said: “Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months. Wishing everyone a Happy Mother’s Day. C.”
However, observers on social media raised concerns about the image almost immediately.
Some pointed to two main areas where the image was potentially doctored – the cuff on Charlotte’s cardigan does not appear to align with her left hand and has a circle that appears out of place, and part of Louis’ jumper where the pattern appears to be out of sync. It was also noted that Kate does not appear to be wearing a wedding ring on her left hand.
Later on Sunday, Associated Press (AP) became the first of a series international news and photo agencies to retract the image. AP issued a “kill notification” for the photos, an industry term meaning it had been retracted and was not to be used. The agency said: “At closer inspection it appears that the source has manipulated the image. No replacement photo will be sent.”
Then a second agency, Reuters, announced it too had withdrawn the photo “following a post-publication review”. A third news agency, Agence France-Presse (AFP), also issued a “mandatory kill notice” on the photo, while Getty Images became the fourth group to retract the picture.
On Monday morning, the UK’s PA Media also said it would be withdrawing the image from its picture service, saying the Palace had still yet to respond to requests for an “urgent clarification”.
After issuing her apology on Monday, Kate was later spotted leaving Windsor in a car with William as he was driven to the Commonwealth Day service in London. Kate was not due to attend the service but instead understood to have a private appointment.
A friend told the Daily Mirror that Kate “would likely be upset by the furore caused by what was supposed to be an innocent family photograph”.
Watch: Kate personally apologises for confusion as she takes blame for editing picture
What we don’t know
We still don’t know what the original unedited photo taken by William looked like.
While Kensington Palace said on Monday that it would not be releasing the original, it is under increasing pressure to do so in order to dispel the wave of speculation and conspiracy theories on social media.
The palace’s refusal to release the original image means it is impossible to know the extent of the editing that took place and whether – as Kate’s statement implies – the changes were minor ones.
Public relations and crisis consultant Mark Borkowski called on the royals to release the original photo.
He said: “It’s plausible she’s at home playing with the computer and using an AI tool, but if they’re really going to regain any sort of trust they should release the unedited photo, it can’t be that bad if they just made a few tweaks.
“I find they have risen to the challenge, provided the statement as an explanation – the question is with all the conspiracy theories running around, is whether people believe it and I’m not sure that they will.”
And historian and royal expert Dr Tessa Dunlop told the Daily Mirror: “If the princess only indulged in a bit of light editing, why on Earth doesn’t the palace release the original photograph?”
It isn’t the first time a photo featuring Kate has been questioned over apparent clumsy editing practices.
In December, the Wales’s Christmas card prompted similar questions over the festive black and white picture, pointing out that William’s legs appeared to be missing from behind Charlotte’s chair and, more obviously, Prince Louis’ middle finger also seemed to be absent.
The Mother’s Day photo was the first official image of Kate since she was admitted to the London Clinic for a planned operation on 16 January. Kate left the hospital on 29 January and returned to Adelaide Cottage in Windsor.
Details of the princess’s condition have not been disclosed but Kensington Palace previously said it was not cancer-related and that Kate wished her personal medical information to remain private.
The 42-year-old future queen was last pictured in public during a Christmas Day walk in Sandringham, Norfolk, and is not expected to return to official duties until after Easter.
Kate ‘may have edited family image with AI’
A photography expert has said the Princess of Wales may have used artificial intelligence to alter part of the image of her and her children.
Stephen Davies, known as The Photoshop Guy, is a photographer and digital artist near Cardiff, Wales, and has 25 years of Photoshop experience.
He told Yahoo News UK there were a number of discrepancies with the image, but that Kate’s right hand around Louis’ waist could have been added using AI.
“With Kate’s hand around Louis, it’s very low-res compared to the rest of the image,” he said. “I believe that looks like it’s been inserted with AI because it’s got all the signs of using artificial intelligence. It’s not as sharp as the rest of the image and there’s no texture in that part as well.
“If you look at the jumper there’s lots of texture but if you look at the shadow area there’s no texture there. I know that’s not motion blur by the camera, it’s just soft. To create a hand in that area from scratch would be near impossible but in AI you can do it with the click of a button.”
