Agencies and media are racing to get the future queen’s photos – a privilege that many professional photographers can only dream of. Maybe this went to her head. Story of a failed career.
One can only imagine the drama the scandal surrounding Princess Kate’s amateurish Photoshop job sparked behind the walls of Kensington Palace this week. The cursing from the press department could probably be heard as far away as neighboring Hyde Park. Heads must have rolled, in a purely figurative sense, of course. And all because of a sick, frustrated princess who had indulged in her hobby on the computer.
Life in the royal household is lonely, as those married from Princess Diana to Meghan Markle have learned the hard way. In this situation it’s good to have a hobby, but this is where it becomes problematic. Most of the practical skills and talents you bring there from the outside world are relatively useless unless you grew up in a 19th century film. Riding and horse breeding, polo, painting or, for the ladies, cross-stitching are all acceptable pastimes in the palace. Since Lord Snowdon, Princess Margaret’s husband during her lifetime, photography has also been a recognized hobby – but acting has definitely not been since Markle. Sure, Queen Elizabeth II could repair truck engines, but that was during World War II and was only allowed as an exception.
Kate became interested in photography at an early age
In this and many other ways, Kate Middleton was the perfect bride for Prince William and the royal family. She had virtually no professional experience, but a lot of common sense. What’s more, she came from a top private school where they played lacrosse and hockey and learned Latin and manners. And she had one of the palace’s recognized hobbies: photography.
There are two versions of when exactly the Princess of Wales discovered her passion for photography. One goes like this: Her grandfather, Peter Middleton, was a talented amateur photographer, the curator of the Historic Royal Palaces once said. “He showed her how to use a camera.”
The other version is the one that Kate herself told when she attended university in Nottingham last autumn. There she remembered her own student days and the many opportunities to try things out. “I attended the University of St. Andrews photography club where I discovered a hobby that I still enjoy to this day.”
Kate photographed products for her mother’s company
It’s worth mentioning here that clubs at British universities are less places to study than excuses for pub visits and wild parties. But maybe Kate really learned something there; After her studies, when William took his time proposing marriage and the British press caustically called her “Waity Katy” – the waiting Katy – she worked at Mama Middleton’s party delivery company and took product photos of the table decorations there.
Even after the wedding in 2011, she often took her camera, a Canon EOS 5D, with her, including on one of her first official trips to Malaysia. The photos, in artistic black and white landscapes, seemed rather random, but Buckingham Palace proudly published them on its own website.
In 2016 Kate became an honorary member of the Royal Photographical Society
With the birth of her own children, Kate found more grateful motives. Your pictures of George, Charlotte and Louis are actually good, although in a touchingly old-fashioned way. In 2016, the Royal Photographic Society awarded her honorary life membership in recognition of her “long-standing interest in photography”. She shows “talent and enthusiasm as an amateur photographer,” it was said. Kate accepted, flattered. Professional photographers in particular were not pleased. “Is this supposed to be a joke? There are millions of better photographers,” one of them wrote angrily on Twitter at the time. Kate found an unexpected defender of her photography in Jonathan Jones, the feared art critic of the left-wing Guardian. To everyone’s surprise, he wrote in 2017 that her photos were “good” and “full of love.” “Her portraits are strong and full of character in the way only a mother can photograph them.”
By the way, the “long-time interest in photography” isn’t even an exaggeration. Kate wrote her final thesis while studying art history at St. Andrews on the subject of “Lewis Carroll’s Children’s Photographs”. Carroll was the 19th century author of children’s books such as “Alice in Wonderland.”
“Natural talent for photography”
The British newspapers didn’t care what the experts said about Kate’s photos anyway. The British interest, especially in the youngest members of the royal family, is insatiable, and Kate’s photos were distributed free by the palace as official images to major news outlets. Each of her photos made the front pages of the Daily Telegraph, the Times and the Daily Mail, with accompanying texts raving about the princess’s “natural talent.” Years ago, one or two photo editors probably looked up at the metadata of the images supplied by the palace, but who wanted to publicly criticize the Photoshop skills of the future king’s wife?
It was only natural that Queen Elizabeth II would pass on her patronage of the Royal Photographical Society to Kate in 2019. Kate proved herself more than worthy of the honor: During the pandemic, she curated an inspired photography project called “Hold Still” that brought together amateur and professional photographers from across the kingdom. A year later she photographed two Holocaust survivors with their families for a Society exhibition; the images are among her best. Several of her children’s photos could be seen in the exhibition “Life Through a Royal Lens” in London in the summer of 2022, and in the same year she photographed Queen Camilla for the cover of the magazine “Country Life”.
The cover photo of “Country Life” magazine was photographed by Princess Kate in 2022. “She is very talented,” said Queen Camilla
There’s no question: the Princess of Wales’ commitment and passion for photography as an art form is real. She can therefore be forgiven for taking advantage of her position to prominently place her own photos. The fact that Kate had to stumble over a botched Photoshop job now of all times because she and those around her didn’t understand that authenticity was important for the manipulated image is tragic. In the age of Instagram, one would like to give her the advice: Next time – #noedit, #nofilter.