Kate Middleton Photographer Debunks Claim New Image Is Edited With 7-Word Statement
What started with a simple social media post wishing people in the U.K. a Happy Mother’s Day has become an international story and has left the Princess of Wales (formerly known as Kate Middleton) embroiled in a firestorm of edited photo drama.
The image shared by Kensington Palace on March 10 shows Kate and her three children — Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis — smiling happily together for a picture. That snap seemed to be nothing more than a sweet family photo, that is until a handful of news and photo agencies ordered a “kill notification” citing concerns of manipulation.
The Princess of Wales later issued an apology on X (formerly known as Twitter) writing: “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.”
Now another picture of Kate taken hours after her apology is at the center of speculation with a claim that it was Photoshopped. But the photographer who took that shot is firing back.
Photographer shuts down image editing rumor with simple 7-word statement
Jim Bennett is the photographer who captured the photo of the princess on March 11 as she traveled from Windsor Castle in a car with Prince William prior to his Commonwealth Day service engagement at Westminster Abbey in London. Kate was sitting in the back seat of the car with her husband as she looked out the window. However, some caught up in all the photo editing stories and conspiracy theories lately have claimed the image of William’s wife was edited into the snap. The allegation was made because of the noticeably “mismatched bricks” in the background.
Bennett though shut those rumors down in a few words telling the New York Post: “We don’t change our photos in Photoshop.”
He then added that the only time that would be done with one of his images is to “adjust the light levels if necessary.”
Bennett then detailed how he got the snap of the prince and princess in the first place explaining that he and another photographer were hired by a news outlet to get a shot of the Prince of Wales on his way to London.
“The cars left Windsor Castle and I photographed them a short distance away on Datchet High Street — outside No. 39, to be precise!” he said. “Car shots are unpredictable at the best of times and with some reflection on the glass, it can be difficult.”
According to the Post, “The Datchet High Street address provided by Bennett also seems to debunk suspicions of forgery.”
Bennett then admitted that he was as surprised as anyone to see the princess in the car too: “As it happened, it wasn’t until I checked on the back of the camera to make sure I had a frame of Prince William that I realized there was someone sitting next to him. It turned out to be Catherine!”
Where Kate was reportedly headed
The Princess of Wales has rarely been seen in public since it was announced that she had abdominal surgery in January and would need months to recover at home.
Following her surgery, the princess canceled all her royal engagements through the end of March. So of course royal watchers wanted to know where she was going as William was on his way to the service that she did not attend.
Several reports noted that Kate was headed to a “private appointment” but the exact location and nature of that has not been disclosed.
