It looks like someone in the British royal establishment royally mucked up a chance to quiet public concerns and “vicious internet speculation” over the health and whereabouts of Kate Middleton.
A happy family photo of the Princess of Wales with her three children was issued by Kensington Palace Saturday and published globally, the Daily Mail reported. But, in “an extraordinary development” Saturday night, major international news agencies, including the Associated Press, Getty, Reuters and AFP have withdrawn the photo, saying it may have been digitally manipulated, the Daily Mail’s royal editor Rebecca English also said
The image marked the first time that Kate has been officially seen in public or in a photo since Christmas Day. She underwent surgery for an undisclosed abdominal surgery in January, followed by a nearly two-week hospital stay and a long recuperation at her home near Windsor Castle. Kensington Palace said she wouldn’t appear at a public engagement until at least after Easter and has declined to say much else about her condition, fueling concerns, speculation and conspiracy theories about her as the weeks and months have gone by.
The disputed photo shows a smiling, apparently healthy and casually dressed Kate in jeans, seated on a chair on a patio outdoors, embracing her three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, who are posed around her. The photo was accompanied by a message, thanking the public for their “kind wishes and continued support over the last two months” and wishing “everyone a Happy Mother’s Day,” referring to the celebration of the holiday in the U.K. The message was signed “C.”
There is no doubt about the authenticity of the photo, which was officially issued by Kensington Palace and shot by Prince William, English reported. But the move to withdraw the photo by the news agencies “will do nothing to dampen the ridiculous online conspiracy theories swirling around the princess,” English said. These apparent editing errors has “added fuel to the fire” over the conspiracy theories circulating about the future queen, English added.
While the photo remained posted on Kensington Palace social media accounts Sunday evening, AP issued an alert asking for the photo to be “killed” from their system, saying: “At closer inspection it appears that the source has manipulated the image,” English reported.
AFP said: “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 Due to an editorial issue this photo by the Prince of Wales has been withdrawn… and may no longer by used in any manner.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.”
Reuters also said the photo was being removed from circulation “following a post publication review,” English also reported, while noting that there is “huge concern” in the news industry right now about the manipulation of photographs using artificial intelligence. However, A.I. doesn’t appear to be an issue in this case.
Nonetheless, royal watchers and critics immediately jumped online after the photo was issued by Kensington Palace to point out apparent photo-editing fails. Some observers, looking very closely, noted that there appeared to be digital altering in the portion of the photo where Princess Charlotte’s wrist and the sleeve of her sweater don’t quite match up. It also appeared that there was an issue over whether Charlotte was wearing different boots on her foot, or about the placement of the heel of her boot against the paving of the patio on which they were sitting.
Once again, people also wondered about the appearance of Louis’ hands in an official photo issued by the palace. The Wales family Christmas card photo, issued by the palace three months ago, also faced fierce scrutiny over apparent photo-editing errors, including the way that Louis appeared to have lost a middle finger, the Daily Mail reported at the time.
In this weekend’s photo, one of Louis’ fingers looks shorter than the others as he appears to be crossing his fingers in an odd gesture. Others had questions about the length of George’s arms, which are wrapped around his mother’s shoulders, while some wondered if the leaves on the trees in the background show that the photo was shot in the autumn.