Over the past year, the Prince and Princess of Wales have sparked debate when releasing official portraits of themselves and their children, as social media users and commentators have analyzed each image closely.
On March 10, a portrait released to mark Mother's Day in Britain saw speculation and conspiracy theories reach a new height as a number of sources highlighted apparent image manipulation throughout the frame.
This led photography loving Kate to issue an apology through the royal social media accounts, highlighting that she is an "amateur" photographer and as such "occasionally" experiments with editing.
As the fallout from the photo controversy continues, Newsweek takes a look at some of the images from William and Kate in recent months that have sparked allegations of editing.
Mother's Day Controversy
On March 10, the Prince and Princess of Wales' social media accounts posted an image of Kate with Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis to mark Mother's Day in Britain.
A statement from Kensington Palace at the time read: "A new picture of The Princess of Wales, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis was posted on our social media channels today to mark Mother's Day.
"The image was taken in Windsor earlier this week by the Prince of Wales."
Social media users were quick to highlight a number of apparent examples where editing was used on the image. Highlighting a masking issue around Princess Charlotte's right sleeve, a cut in Kate's jacket zip and blending issues to steps behind Prince Louis' trousers.
As the image was the first official photograph of Kate since her absence from public life following abdominal surgery in January, the edited nature of the image added to speculation about her health and whereabouts.
These issues led photo and news agencies, including The Press Association, to issue a "kill" notice to news outlets, asking them to cease using the image as it violated their guidelines.
On March 11, just over 24 hours after the image was initially uploaded, Kate issued a rare personally authored statement to social media, reading: "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. C."
Queen Elizabeth II and Great-Grandchildren Edits
The Mother's Day portrait is not the first image taken by the royals to be questioned over allegations of image manipulation.
In 2023, William and Kate released a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and a group of her younger grandchildren and great-grandchildren taken at Balmoral Castle in 2022.
The photo, taken by Kate, was released in April 2023 to mark what would have been the monarch's 97th birthday. The first since her death the previous September.
After its upload to social media and distribution to media outlets, a number of viewers spotted evidence of editing and posted their findings online. These included a visible image seam unblended through the queen's skirt and the sofa behind her, as well as lighting inconsistencies around Prince Louis' head.
At the time, Kensington Palace did not issue further comment on the photo or the social media discourse surrounding it.
Christmas Card Allegations
Another image of the Wales family that sparked discussions around potential editing errors, was their 2023 Christmas card portrait, taken by photographer Josh Shinner.
Social media users alleged (though this has not been confirmed) that Louis' finger placement gave the appearance of editing, so much so that the Daily Mail ran an online article on the image titled: "Kate Middleton and Prince William's annual Christmas card appears to suffer a Photoshop fail—leaving Louis without a middle finger."
Neither Shinner nor the palace addressed the allegations. Writing on Instagram, the photographer spoke warmly of his experience capturing the royals on film.
"It was such a pleasure to photograph the Prince and Princess of Wales and their family for the Christmas portrait this year," he said.
"Without doubt one of the most relaxed and enjoyable sittings I've ever had, and I now have a whole new set of jokes that are right on my level thanks to the children..."
Newsweek has approached Kensington Palace and Shinner via email for comment.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
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