How Kate’s royal photo blunder turned into a PR disaster

The Princess of Wales issued an extraordinary mea culpa on Monday after admitting she “edited” an image showing her celebrating Mother’s Day with her children.

In a rare personal message on Twitter, signed ‘C’ for Catherine, the future queen said she “occasionally experimented” as an “amateur photographer’.

And she apologised for any “confusion” the photograph had caused.

It came after six global picture agencies sensationally pulled the image from their wires and libraries – an unprecedented reaction to an official royal photograph – amid concern that “the source has manipulated the image”.

There were questions over everything from why Princess Charlotte’s wrist did not match the sleeve of her cardigan, to Prince Louis’ strange fingers.

The photograph of Kate and her children, taken by Prince William at the family home in Windsor on Friday, was the first to be issued since her abdominal surgery in January.

Although the couple have regularly issued something personal to mark Mother’s Day, it was hoped the picture might also quell vicious social media speculation about the nature of the princess’s condition, which has deeply upset and angered the couple.

Instead, the royal blunder resulted in another public explosion of conspiracy theories.

Publicly taking the blame for the furore, the princess 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.

“I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day. C.”

Royal sources said the princess had made “minor adjustments” to the picture, which she and her husband had hoped would be a lovely ‘informal’ shot to share on a special day.

One source said: “The princess made minor adjustments, as she shared in her statement on social media. The Wales family spent Mother’s Day together and had a wonderful day.”

Kensington Palace said it would not reissue the unedited photograph of Kate and her children, which in itself sparked further debate.

On Monday night the Palace faced growing pressure over the debacle with claims it has damaged public trust.

The row overshadowed yesterday’s Coronation Day service at Westminster Abbey, which was being led by Queen Camilla for the first time – accompanied by Prince William – in the King’s absence as he undergoes cancer treatment.

His Majesty recorded a video message for the first time instead.

On Monday, Kate was seen in the back seat of a car with her husband as he left Windsor to travel to London for two public engagements.

It is understood she was en route to a “private appointment” and she did not accompany William publicly.

Here, we examine how the publishing of a seemingly innocuous family photograph turned into a royal furore:

Growing concern

News that the Princess of Wales had undergone what was described only as “planned abdominal surgery” was announced on January 16.

Kensington Palace confirmed that Kate had been admitted to The London Clinic in Marylebone the previous day and the surgery had been successful.

Appealing for privacy for her to recuperate, it said no updates would be given unless there was a major announcement to be made and made clear it was unlikely she would return to public duties before Easter.

But the absence of any official news has resulted in an explosion of sinister, and often slanderous, speculation about her condition, with the hashtag #WhereIsKateMiddleton trending almost daily.

While some have been obviously ridiculous, such as the claim she is recovering from a Brazilian bum lift, one Spanish television journalist claimed she was in a coma.

Many other theories are unprintable.

Palace discussions

William and Kate are known to have been deeply upset by recent public discussions about her welfare.

Speculation reached fever pitch, first when William pulled out from his godfather King Constantine’s memorial service for a “personal matter” just 45 minutes before he was due to arrive.

Then Kensington Palace reacted angrily to the Ministry of Defence advertising tickets for a Trooping the Colour event featuring the princess in June, resulting in the offending webpage being taken down.

A spokesman said testily that only the Palace was entitled to confirm her public appearances.

Last Monday a grainy paparazzi picture was also published on the US gossip site TMZ – having been refused by all major UK news organisations on the basis that Kate had an expectation of privacy — apparently showing the princess returning to Windsor with her mother, Carole, driving her after the school run.

Instead of calming concern, it prompted even more speculation, with conspiracy theorists claiming the picture had been digitally altered – or wasn’t even her.

At Kensington Palace, senior aides were debating whether to issue their customary Mother’s Day picture.

In a normal year, this would have been a “no-brainer”, but given that the princess had asked for space to privately recuperate and the “craziness” of the speculation, officials wanted to be reassured that this wouldn’t add to it.

Kensington Palace gave just a few minutes’ notice to the Press that the picture would be released on its social media platforms.

It was likely designed to attract maximum engagement with their social media channels.

The decision had the desired effect with more than 78 million views on X, formerly Twitter, alone.

Social media sleuths shortly after the picture was published, social media sleuths began to comment that parts of it appeared to have been “Photoshopped” or digitally manipulated.

The most obvious instance was Princess Charlotte’s sleeve, but questions also began to arise about the leaves on the tree in the garden, with some saying it was too early in the year for such lushness.

The general chatter about the image grew louder and louder until news websites began running articles about the apparent discrepancies late on Sunday afternoon.

Agencies ‘kill’ photo

Matters became more serious on Sunday night when respected international picture agency AP issued a “kill” notice, asking clients to delete the picture and saying: “At closer inspection it appears that the source has manipulated the image.”

Kensington Palace was thrown completely off guard and swiftly declined to comment, saying it would “not be drawn” on the issue.

But it was too late.

AP was swiftly followed by Getty images and AFP, both of whom cited ”editorial” issues.

Crisis at the Palace

The Mail understands the first the Palace heard of the furore was when it was contacted by journalists on Sunday night.

It can be difficult to raise the Waleses, who now live at Adelaide Cottage at Windsor during term-time, particularly at weekends, when they value their private family time.

But it was clear that conversations were going on through the night and into Monday morning about the best way to respond.

None of the Press team was responding to messages, the surest sign of crisis talks.

The Palace has hugely extended its operation to include extensive internal media teams.

The downside is that control is tighter and pictures, particularly those taken by the princess — will drop on the press office at the last minute.

While William took the picture on Friday, it was Kate who sent it in.

Meta data – information attached to images – showed that the picture was saved twice on Photoshop, once on Friday evening and again on Saturday morning.

But this would have given the Palace only Saturday afternoon and evening to go through the image with a fine-tooth comb, if indeed it did.

Mea culpa

By Monday morning, the story was on the front page of most British newspapers, as well as leading television bulletins.

There was still silence from Kensington Palace, but it was clear that this was a row that could not be allowed to fester.

At 10.30am, Kate’s unprecedented mea culpa dropped on Kensington Palace’s social media platforms.

There is no suggestion that the princess did not write and post it herself, although the Palace would not be drawn on that either.

It is worth noting, however, that the statement was cleverly worded to deflect criticism.

As well as emphasising Kate’s status as a keen but very much “amateur” photographer who seemingly only dabbles with editing, it signed off with a message about Mother’s Day that only the churlish would quibble with.

Unanswered questions The Palace is hoping to draw a line under the issue, but questions remain.

What were the “minor adjustments” that were made and can the Palace confirm what software was used?

Was the photograph checked thoroughly before it was issued – or indeed were staff even aware of the possibility that attempts might have been made to alter it?

And has this happened with any of the princess’s photographs before?

Royal insiders say it is increasingly rare to find any image released publicly that hasn’t been altered slightly or had a filter applied. The issue here is how much?

The fallout While this weekend’s events are significant, they should not be overstated.

This appears not to be wholescale fakery, but a classic Photoshop fail.

But it is vital, if the public and media are to have confidence in the story the Waleses are publicly telling about their lives, that their images are true and authentic.

The fallout from the episode has resulted in a further explosion of ridiculous conspiracy theories at a time when the Crown could well do without any further conjecture.