Kate Middleton is yet again under scrutiny for supposedly digitally altering a photograph, this time of the late Queen Elizabeth with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren surrounding her. The image was taken by Kate and released by Buckingham Palace on what would have been Queen Elizabeth's 97th birthday in April 2023.
Despite the fact that the photo was released almost a year ago, Getty Images is just now announcing that the photo had been manipulated. “Getty Images has reviewed the image in question and placed an editor’s note on it, stating that the image has been digitally enhanced at source,” a spokesperson told The Telegraph.
The Princess of Wales took the photo during a family trip to Balmoral in summer 2022. Along with the Queen are Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis and their royal cousins. According to the statement, there were "several inconsistencies." The outlet pinpointed six different discrepancies.
This news comes not too long after Kate's Mother's Day photo was pulled once 16 editing instances were pointed out. Some of the discrepancies were Princess Charlotte's hair being oddly cut off, distortions, and Kate's hair seeming to be airbrushed.
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That scrutiny moved her to issue an apology via social media: "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.”
Major news outlets issued a “kill” alert for the photo posted by the Princess of Wales for Mother's Day in the UK. The doctored photo further fueled conspiracy theories about her whereabouts, because she has not been seen in public since her surgery in January.
Kate underwent a "planned abdominal surgery" at The London Clinic. During the time, Kensington Palace shared that she “will remain in hospital for 10 to 14 days, before returning home to continue her recovery,” adding that it would provide updates on her progress “when there is significant new information to share."
The palace also shared that Kate would not make any public appearances for at least three months. A palace insider recently told People that there was "radio silence" regarding her condition.
A recent video appeared to showed Kate stepping out with Prince William on Saturday, March 16, 2024. According to eyewitnesses, she looked "happy, relaxed and healthy."
People in the comments appeared to be irritated about the scrutiny Kate was brought under in regards to the photos.
"Does it matter when the altered photos are just harmless family snapshots?" one person wondered. "It’s not crime scene photos or something high stakes, my God, let it gooooo."
"99% of the posting population alter their pics somehow," another user stated. "Get over it. Your very own publication does it. How is this worth reporting."
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