Kate Middleton and her three children (L-R): Princes Louis, Prince George and Princess Charlotte.Photo:The Prince and Princess of Wales/Instagram
The Prince and Princess of Wales/Instagram
Instagram has added a warning to the Mother’s Day photo of Kate Middleton and her children published on March 10.The Prince and Princess of Wales/Instagram
The update came three days after the Princess of Wales, 42, issuedan apologyto social media around the Mothering Sunday snap after prestigious picture agencies including the Associated Press, Getty Images and Reuters pulled the photo from their press libraries due to concerns that the picture was manipulated. Sleuths spotted16 odditiesin the shot, andSky Newslater shared that aninvestigation of the metadataindicated the original image was saved twice in Photoshop.
“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,” Princess Kate wrote onX(formerly Twitter) and the Instagram Story of the official accounts she shares with Prince William.
The photo, which remains on the Prince and Princess of Wales’ joint pages, shows the Princess of Wales seated withPrince George, 10,Princess Charlotte, 8, andPrince Louis, 5, around her. The image was especially significant as the first official picture of Princess Kate released following herabdominal surgeryon Jan. 16, driving interest to a new pitch as shehas not been seen in publicsince Christmas and isnot expected to return to royal dutyuntil after Easter.
London PR expertMark Borkowskitells PEOPLE it was “damning” to the royal brand to have the image’s legitimacy called into question,
“The difficulty now is because there is so little information about what’s happening to Kate, if they were going to project things are all normal in this way — with a photo that is now deemed to be fake — it is pretty damning about the floundering and the poor decision making that’s going on,” Borkowskitells PEOPLEabout the consequences.
Kate Middleton with her three children, Prince Louis, Prince George and Princess Charlotte.The Prince and Princess of Wales/Instagram
Can’t get enough of PEOPLE’s Royals coverage?Sign up for our free Royals newsletterto get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!
Speculation continued when rumors saidthe picture of Princess Katedriving away from Windsor Castle with Prince William on Monday was doctored because the brickslooked differentthrough the window and above the vehicle.
Goff Photos, the agency that got the shots, denied editing the images. Goff toldE! Newsthat the pictures “have been cropped and lightened” but clarified that “nothing has been doctored.”
Kate Middleton, Princess Charlotte, Prince George, Prince William and Prince Louis on December 25, 2023.Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty
Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty
Jim Bennett, the photographer who snapped the shots, tells PEOPLE, “We don’t change our photos in Photoshop other than adjusting the light levels if necessary. Car shots are unpredictable at the best of times and with some reflection on the glass it can be difficult.”
source: people.com
