Princess Catherine Apologises Over Edited Royal Mothers’ Day Snap

This undated photo issued on Sunday March 10, 2024 by Kensington Palace shows Kate, Prince
Prince of Wales/Kensington Palace via AP
Oliver JJ Lane

A Mother’s Day photograph that was withdrawn by picture agencies for showing signs of having been touched up has been acknowledged as edited by Princess Kate.

Any parent who has tried to take a family photograph where all children are smiling at the same time knows how difficult it can be, but an edited snap became the biggest news story in Britain overnight after Princess Catherine posted a shot for Mother’s Day which she has now confirmed was modified. As noted yesterday, the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Getty Images, and Reuters all withdrew or published a “kill notice” on the picture over concerns that it had been digitally manipulated.

Now the Princess of Wales, Kate, who hasn’t been seen in public since Christmas as she recovers from abdominal surgery has addressed the mounting speculation over the image, saying it was the innocent, run-of-the-mill improvement of a family picture. She wrote in a statement on Monday morning: “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.”

The original image as published, which featured the Princess with her three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, showed a small artefact at the wrist of Princess Charlotte which gave away the change. How the image was changed and for what purpose has not been revealed, but many modern smartphones include photo-improvement software, which can run automatically or electively to blend various frames to ensure all sitters’ eyes are open, for instance.

The BBC cites unnamed “Royal sources” who add, further to the Princess’s statement, that the edit to the picture was an “amateur, family photograph” that received “minor adjustments”. It reports: “The implication is that this was not a piece of professional manipulation, but some tidying up of a picture capturing a family moment.”

As previously reported, the health of the Princess of Wales has been a matter of increasingly feverish speculation in recent weeks since she went into hospital for an unspecified, but apparently relatively serious, operation. While the Palace was up-front about the surgery meaning Princess Kate would be out of the public eye until after Easter, the months of recovery time left many with questions unanswered.

Apparently responding to the rising interest in the Princess’s health, a spokesman said earlier this month that: “We always said that the Princess of Wales would be out until Easter, and we are not making any further comments… The Princess of Wales is still doing well.”

 

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