King Charles, Kate Middleton receive bad news after major twist in photo controversy

King Charles and Kate Middleton have received disappointing news as their popularity has not remained as high as before.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has released its annual data on the most popular baby names in England and Wales for 2022, reported Mirror.

The royal family continues to influence parents' choices, with names of royal members appearing in the top 100 for both boys and girls. 

However, it's been a challenging year for the monarchy, with King Charles undergoing cancer treatment and Princess Kate receiving chemotherapy. 

Harry and Meghan recently returned to California after a trip to Nigeria aimed at strengthening ties within the Invictus Games international community.

Royal-inspired names tend to endure, though some are more popular than others. Beatrice made a brief appearance last year but dropped out of the top 100 this year. However, Princess Beatrice's choice, Sienna, made it to the top 10, and the name Elizabeth moved up a spot to 59th. The name Charles fell out of the top 100 for boys.

Popular royal girls' names such as Elizabeth, Zara, Sophie, Mia, Charlotte, and Sienna remained in the top 100 for girls in England and Wales for 2022, while Catherine didn't make the list. George remains the most popular royal boys' name, ranking third.

Archie, Harry's son's name, dropped to 11th place, and Harry himself fell to 15th. The nickname Charlie, a variation of Charles, is the 16th most popular boys' name. William dropped to 24th, and Edward fell to 31st. Louis, the name of William and Kate's youngest child, rose to 49th, while Charlotte maintained its position as the 25th most popular girls' name.

The ONS data reflects names from 2022. BabyCentre's mid-year report for 2023 shows George as the most popular royal boys' name in ninth place, followed by Henry, Archie, Harry, Louis, and William. Charlotte ranks 25th, while Catherine, Megan, and Beatrice are not in the top 100.

It comes after Kate  has been defended by the curator of a new exhibition, who described the retouching of royal photos as "part of the creative process," which is a new turn in Mother's Day photo controversy that revolves around Princess.

The Alessandro Nasini, the curator of the Buckingham Palace exhibition celebrating 100 years of royal photographs, emphasized that retouching remains an essential tool in royal portrait photography, reported GB news. 

Nasini noted that many of the photos on display at the King's Gallery have been retouched.

Nasini's comments came two months after six major picture agencies issued "kill notices" to withdraw a photograph of the Princess of Wales with her children for Mother's Day.