Chaostage in the British royal family: Several international news agencies have withdrawn a picture of Princess Kate and her children just hours after it was published. On Monday, another agency, the British Press Association (PA), added a warning to the recording.
A little later, the princess herself spoke out. Catherine (“Kate”) asked in a statement on X I apologize for the “confusion” surrounding the family photo. She further wrote that as a “hobby photographer” she occasionally “experiments” with “subsequent editing” of the images. The 42-year-old apparently tried to smooth things over with her surprising statement.
A real media scandal had previously developed around the harmless Mother’s Day photo. The agencies’ justification for the so-called “Picture Kill” was: suspicion of manipulation. This meant the digital follow-up of the recording, which the princess now wants to have done herself. The photo, released by Kensington Palace on Sunday morning, was the first official image of the Princess of Wales since her abdominal surgery in January. It therefore attracted great interest internationally, particularly on social media. WELT also reported.
The palace published the picture – showing Kate and her three children – on the X platform on Sunday to mark British Mother’s Day. It was subsequently distributed by several news agencies.
In the evening, the U-turn: The US agency Associated Press (AP) announced that after a “close review” it had come to the conclusion that the recording had been manipulated by the source “in a way that does not meet photo standards of AP”. The photo shows an “inconsistency” in the depiction of Princess Charlotte’s left hand, according to the AP’s reason for its retraction. Reuters also retracted the image. British journalists some were shocked about the process, which has never happened before in Great Britain.
Meanwhile, numerous strange features of the photo have been pointed out on the Internet: Prince Louis’s fingers, for example, look crooked, and Charlotte’s hair on the right side seems to have been cut off. The patterns and color gradients of the clothing are sometimes inconsistent. In addition, Catherine (“Kate”) is missing her wedding ring, which she usually wears, and the fact that the family is sitting next to a bush with green leaves – even though the vegetation is probably not as developed in Great Britain. The British Telegraph showed in an Instagram posting a total of six irregularities, The Guardian even came on 20 suspicious places.
“The photo that makes everything worse”
The recent PR flop is likely to further fuel speculation about the heir to the throne. The health of the 42-year-old Princess of Wales has been the subject of increasing speculation in recent weeks, WELT also reported.
Instead of clearing up conspiracy theories and rumors about the health of the mother of three and future queen, the palace is now facing even more critical questions after the photo fiasco.
“The photo that made everything worse,” commented Chris Ship, the Royals correspondent for the ITV channel. And the former Royals reporter for the BBC, Peter Hunt, raised the question of whether the Royals now also have other issues can still be trusted. Approval of the monarchy has fallen anyway; among younger people it was recently below 50 percent. The fact that Kate, one of the most popular members of the royal family, is now making such a mistake is not a good omen.
The picture, the PA news agency initially announced, was taken just a few days ago in Windsor and was allegedly taken by husband William. You can see Kate with her three children. The princess sits upright on a lawn chair on a porch. She placed her feet crossed on the floor in front of her.
Her arms are wrapped around the waist of her two younger children, Princess Charlotte (8) and Prince Louis (5), who can be seen to her left and right. Charlotte has sat down with one leg on the armrest. Her eldest son Prince George (10) can be seen behind Kate, wrapping his arms around his mother. Kate smiles. The children seem downright exuberant.
Prince William was reportedly behind the camera
It said on X: “Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the past two months. Wish everyone a happy Mother’s Day.” The text was signed with a C for Catherine, a sign that she wrote the text herself.
Kate underwent planned abdominal surgery in mid-January and remained hospitalized for 13 nights. It is not known what she is suffering from – only that it is not cancer. The reason given was that she wanted her health information to remain private. The Princess of Wales will not resume official duties until after Easter. There will only be updates if there is something new to report.
This was in marked contrast to the palace’s information policy about King Charles III’s illnesses. The 75-year-old had surgery for prostate enlargement almost at the same time as Kate. Both were in the private London Clinic in the British capital.
A short time later, the palace announced that cancer had been discovered during the king’s treatment. He has since started therapy and canceled public appointments until further notice.
Ministry of Defense had to withdraw notification
When Prince William missed an appointment at the end of February due to “personal matters,” it sparked concern. Speculation about Kate’s health was further fueled when a statement from the Ministry of Defense had to be withdrawn a few days ago. It announced Kate’s participation in the preparations for the King’s birthday parade “Trooping the Color” in June – apparently without prior consultation with the palace.
It was similar with a message from the Ministry of Defense to the king – it was also deleted. But unlike Kate, the king has repeatedly been photographed behind the scenes at official appointments in recent weeks – for example at the accreditation of new ambassadors or at the weekly audience with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Until now, the only thing that had ever existed of his daughter-in-law was a blurry photo taken by a paparazzi photographer.
When Kate’s uncle Gary Goldsmith, who appeared on reality show Big Brother, was asked about her, he simply replied: “She gets the best treatment in the world.”