Princess Kate Photo “Killed” by News Agencies Over Manipulation Concerns
A family photo of Britain’s Princess Catherine and her children released Sunday was ordered “killed” by leading news agencies after concerns were raised the photo had been manipulated. The photo, released for the U.K.’s observance of Mother’s Day, was the first photo of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unstated condition in January. There has been no comment as of early Monday from the royal family.
The photo was credited to Prince William and featured a smiling Kate surrounded by the couple’s three exuberant children, 5-year-old Prince Louis, 10-year-old Prince George and 8-year-old Princess Charlotte. The photo was posted to the royal couple’s social media pages and captioned, “Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months. Wishing everyone a Happy Mother’s Day. C The Prince of Wales, 2024”
Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months.
Wishing everyone a Happy Mother's Day. C
The Prince of Wales, 2024 pic.twitter.com/6DywGBpLLQ
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) March 10, 2024
Commenters soon noticed an anomaly in the photo regarding Princess Charlotte’s left hand and the sleeve of her sweater.
What’s going on with the photoshopped sleeve area pic.twitter.com/8gz33qxVjj
— Nick B Ⓥ (@nick2times) March 10, 2024
The Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Press, Getty Images ordered the photo “killed” and removed from postings and publications due to concerns that it had been manipulated.
ITV News reporter Chris Ship posted some of the “kill” notifications:
No comment from Kensington Palace tonight after at least 3 international pictures agencies refuse to distribute this morning’s photo of Kate and her children. Some of them (@AP ) have claimed “the source [the palace] has manipulated the image”. pic.twitter.com/ppOwDtPr9P
— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) March 10, 2024
Mandatory “Kill Notice” from @AFP – a huge international picture agency which says there is an “editorial issue” with Kensington Palace’s photo and has told clients to remove it (I suspect more people will see it as a result). pic.twitter.com/Ovs91bTAOt
— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) March 10, 2024
Reuters posted the agency was withdrawing the photo, “In pictures: Kate, the Princess of Wales, through the years. We are deleting a post containing an image of the Princess of Wales following a post-publication review”
In pictures: Kate, the Princess of Wales, through the years. We are deleting a post containing an image of the Princess of Wales following a post-publication review https://t.co/KNsVFdQVmG pic.twitter.com/gpX98ThhH6
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 10, 2024
The AP posted an article on withdrawing the photo (excerpt):
“AP initially published the photo, which was issued by Kensington Palace. While there was no suggestion the photo was fake, AP retracted it because closer inspection revealed the source had manipulated the image in a way that did not meet AP’s photo standards. For instance, the photo shows an inconsistency in the alignment of Princess Charlotte’s left hand.”
The BBC reported the usual protocol for royal family photos was not kept for this photo and offered a sympathetic explanation (excerpt):
Princess of Wales: Kate picture heats up rumours instead of quelling public curiosity https://t.co/y9lIJDZhbH
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) March 11, 2024
If you didn’t realise the protocol, private royal events are often covered by one invited photographer, whether that is a respected portrait photographer or one member of the national press who must then distribute the photo to all sections of the media via the “royal rota” arrangement.
However, as the Princess of Wales recovers from surgery, the pool of people around her is limited to close friends and family.
It meant no official photographer was brought in.
Prince William instead took the picture of his wife and three children – Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
…But, before Prince William’s image of his family was posted online, it would have gone through the social media team at Kensington Palace who manage the online accounts of the Prince and Princess of Wales.
It may well have been that some editing was done on the original photo which has now resulted in the discrepancies in its appearance.
…At this stage, the more likely explanation is that some overzealous editing of the picture to get it ready for publication has actually cast doubt on its authenticity.
This article will be updated later on Monday if the royal family comments on the controversy.
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