Edited Kate Middleton Photo Sparks New Theory On What Some ‘Hate’ About the Royal Family
Kate Middleton’s apparent photo editing failure has inspired a new theory — OK, many theories — about the drama that’s since ensued. One from a royal commentator offers a reason for the additional buzz surrounding the snapshot. They say the image of the Princess of Wales with her three children and the attention it has received may be, in part, attributed to photo agencies and the “hate” they have for royals getting behind the camera.
Edited Kate photo theory: Photo agencies ‘hate the royals taking their own photos’
Jeremy Vine shared his theory about the photo Kensington Palace released to mark Mother’s Day in the U.K., something other commentators predicted the 42-year-old would do, on his Channel 5 show.
“They hate the royals taking their own photos. They hate it,” he said of photo agencies who pulled Kate’s Mother’s Day photo from their platforms amid signs of editing (via Express).
Vine continued, saying it goes back to Kate’s sister-in-law, Meghan Markle.
“It started with Meghan and I’m sure that’s part of the reason the press had it in for Meghan as well,” he said. “So here they’ve got a chance to properly do them over. Because they go, “Here’s our photo, will you print it?” and they say, “No, no.”
Now, as a result, “next time,” Kate and Prince William, 41, “will have to bring in a professional photographer, which is what the agencies want.”
“So it may be that they deliberately stitched them up like kippers here,” he added, using British slang for being cheated, framed, or treated unfairly. “But don’t put out a fake photo.”
Kate apologized for ‘any confusion’ caused by the edited image
After releasing the photo on March 10, 2024, Kate took to her and the Prince of Wales’s official Twitter account, now referred to as X, to clear up “confusion” surrounding the photo, which had been released a day earlier.
“Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” Kate said. “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,” she added, signing off the message with “C” for Catherine.
In the hours before Kate’s response, the photo of the British royal and her three children — Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5 — taken by William earlier in the week, drew criticism online for what appeared to be editing. It marked the first official photo of Kate as she continues recovering from abdominal surgery in January 2024.
Eventually, photo agencies such as Getty Images, Reuters, PA, Associated Press, and Agence France-Presse flagged the image, issuing a “kill notice” to remove it.
“Like other news agencies, PA Media issued the handout image provided by Kensington Palace of the Princess of Wales and her children in good faith yesterday,” a PA spokesperson said.
“We became aware of concerns about the image, and we carried a report about it last night, and made clear that we were seeking urgent clarification about the image from Kensington Palace. In the absence of that clarification, we are killing the image from our picture service.”
The original photo of Kate and her kids isn’t being released
Since the start of the photo controversy, calls have been made for Kensington Palace, William and Kate’s office, to share the original unedited version. However, the calls appear to be going unanswered.
The palace reportedly refuses to release the original image. Speaking to PA, the palace confirmed they “would not be reissuing the original unedited photograph of Kate and her children,” (via Express).
Meanwhile, a closer look at the Mother’s Day photo of Kate has inspired closer analysis. Sky News reported the metadata showed the photo had been saved in Adobe Photoshop twice on an Apple Mac in the days leading up to its release. Additionally, that it was taken using a Canon camera.
At the time of writing, the photo remains on William and Kate’s Instagram and X accounts.
