The princess had no choice. Monday March 11, Kate Middleton apologized after the release of an altered photo. “Like many amateur photographers, I occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to apologize for any confusion caused by the family photo we shared yesterday,” she wrote on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
This photo, the first since his operation two months ago, was unpublished by major global agencies due to the alterations.
The photo sent on Sunday for Mother’s Day in the United Kingdom shows the 42-year-old princess smiling, in jeans, sweater and blazer, sitting on a rattan chair on a terrace, surrounded by her three laughing children. Taken last week in Windsor, according to the services of the princely couple, it was accompanied by a short message signed “C” (for Catherine): “Thank you for your wishes and your continued support over the last two months. I wish Happy Mother’s Day to everyone.”
But a detailed examination shows, among other anomalies, that Princess Charlotte’s left hand is misaligned with the sleeve of her vest. And are his arms really that long? The more we look at the image, the more we observe various defects related to proportion. The British tabloid The Sun is ruthless with the royal family, playing the game of seven mistakes in his dedicated article. On the BBC websitearticles associated with Kate Middleton’s photo rise to the top of the “most read”, proof that royal family gossip is still popular.
After relaying the photo provided by the palace, the Associated Press (AP), Reuters, Getty and AFP agencies decided to unpublish it. “It has emerged that the image provided by Kensington Palace today (Sunday) of Kate and her children has been altered. As a result, it has been removed from the AFP service and must no longer be used in any way.” , indicated Agence France Presse. “It’s incredible incompetence. If the objective was to reassure the public about the whereabouts of Kate Middleton, the image backfired spectacularly,” criticizes the American site The Verge.
The absence of a wedding ring on his finger
When contacted by AFP, Kensington Palace did not respond and did not publicly comment. Several observers were also surprised by the absence of a wedding ring on the finger of Kate, who married Prince William, heir to the throne, in 2011. The photo made the front pages of many British newspapers, emphasizing more or less the controversy , which gained momentum late Sunday. According to royal commentator Peter Hunt, the affair is embarrassing for Kensington Palace because “people will now wonder whether they can be trusted and believed” about the princess’s health.
The controversy also risks overshadowing the ceremony at Westminster Abbey for Commonwealth Day on Monday, one of the monarchy’s major annual events: all active and healthy members of the royal family are expected there. , including Queen Camilla and Prince William. In a pre-recorded video message, King Charles, being treated for cancer and who has suspended his public activities, promised to serve “to the best of his abilities” the 56 countries, a large part of which came from the former empire British.
While the scandal broke before the start of the Oscars ceremony in Los Angeles, Internet users on social networks were quick to mock the British royal family. This is what the British tabloid relays Mirror : “And the Oscar for best photo editing goes to… #KateMiddleton,” joked a user.
This retouched photo case is not the first. Prince Louis thus found himself without… a middle finger on the royal family’s Christmas card. Speculation and conspiracy theories have been rife since Kate disappeared from the public eye while recovering from planned abdominal surgery in January, when it was rumored she would recover until around Easter.
A busy week
The publication of Kate’s photo came to close an eventful week, with the publication of a photo taken from afar by American media, and the confusion surrounding the presence of the princess at an official event next June. His last public appearance was at the royal family’s Christmas mass in Sandringham (east of England) at the end of December. An unprecedented discretion for the very popular princess, whose travels very often make the headlines in the British media.
Kensington Palace announced on January 17 that the princess had undergone a “scheduled” abdominal operation in a London clinic. Relaying Kate’s “wish” “that her personal medical information remain private”, he indicated that she would not participate in any official public engagements before Easter. William had reduced his schedule to stay with his wife and their children.
Twelve days later, the palace said the princess had returned to her home in Windsor. And since then, nothing, or almost nothing, except a short statement at the end of February while questions were piling up in the press, to indicate that it “continues to do well”, after the cancellation of a Prince William’s public engagement for an unspecified “personal reason”.