An expert has said there are “glaring errors” in several royal photographs, after the Princess of Wales admitted she edited her Mother’s Day photograph.
After being out of the spotlight for weeks, Kate gave an apparent glimpse of her recovery in a photo with her children earlier this month. However, it quickly became clear that the image had been digitally manipulated and Kate personally apologized for the “confusion”.
Royal sources said Kate made “small adjustments” and that she and the Prince of Wales wanted to offer a casual image of the family together for Mother’s Day.
The issue has raised concerns about trust in the taxpayer-funded royal family, with several international news agencies removing the Mother’s Day photo. Phil Chetwynd, global news director for Agence France-Presse (AFP), stated that the palace was no longer a reliable source, comparing it to North Korean and Iranian news agencies.
Since then, attention has focused on previous photographs of the Royal Family and a closer look at some images suggests that Kate was not necessarily the first royal to post an edited image. In fact, there are several cases of apparent editing in official shots showing the late Queen Elizabeth and Kate’s husband William, among others.
Yahoo News showed a series of real photos (below) that some have raised as potentially doctored to photo editing expert Stephen Davies, who told us that “they all have signs of having been edited in one way or another.”
Davies, who runs The Photoshop Guy, said: “There are obvious errors. I believe they have been edited by an amateur editor or must have been extremely rushed, as a professional photo editor like me would have noticed these errors and fixed them before giving them to the client or publishing them publicly.”
Davies stated that photo editing “is a very common practice” and revealed that he himself edits images for celebrities and companies “every day.” He added: “I think most of the photographs we see published online and printed in magazines are edited to some extent. They say the camera never lies. In this digital age, he lies every day.”
The photos under the microscope are:
The Duke of Edinburgh’s 99th birthday
The Royal Family was previously hit by a photo editing furore when a photograph was released to celebrate the late Duke of Edinburgh’s 99th birthday in June 2020. The photo, which showed the Duke standing next to the late Queen at Windsor Castle, was published while the UK was under strict COVID rules.
However, the intensity of the photo was quickly tarnished when social media users said it had been Photoshopped. Some highlighted discrepancies with the lighting and the Queen’s hands.
The Duke of Edinburgh at Kensington Palace
A social media user jumped on a photo of the late Duke of Edinburgh, which was posted in April 2021 following his death. The image, released by Kensington Palace, shows the duke with the late queen, William and Kate and her children and was taken in 2015.
Today we share, together with members of The @Royal familyphotographs of the Duke of Edinburgh, remembering him as a father, grandfather and great-grandfather.
This photo was taken at Balmoral in 2015. pic.twitter.com/HxNfrL21xU
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) April 14, 2021
OMG Kensington Palace says this was taken at Balmoral in 2015. Look at his hand. Has anyone out there sent the actual unedited photo to the agencies? This is from the BBC website. pic.twitter.com/jx1dDyyFEy
— BurnerObservations (@BurnerObserv2) March 20, 2024
But this week the image became the center of attention in light of the recent Mother’s Day issue. Users questioned discrepancies in lighting, shadows, and William’s hands.
Queen Elizabeth and her grandchildren
Several months after Queen Elizabeth’s death, the Princess of Wales published a moving portrait of the late monarch, surrounded by her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. It was released in April 2023 to mark what would have been the Queen’s 97th birthday. Kate took the photo herself in August 2022, just weeks before the Queen’s death.
However, the Getty photo agency this week placed an editor’s note on the image, to say that it “has been digitally enhanced at the source.” According to The Telegraph, inconsistencies in the image include a misalignment in the Queen’s tartan skirt and a dimple in the green sofa that appears to have been digitally altered.
The note came despite the image being in the public domain for almost a year and a week after Kate apologized for her Mother’s Day edit.
The Prince of Wales’s Christmas card
In December 2023, Kate and William released their black and white Christmas card. The photo showed the happy couple with their three children.
However, it didn’t take long for the apparent flaws in the image to be noticed. People who responded to the post on X highlighted what appears to be Prince Louis’ missing finger. Others zoomed in to show off what appears to be an extra pair of legs where Louis is standing.
