Kate Middleton Steps Out Amid Photo Controversy
Sometimes a picture is truly worth 1,000 words. Or at least a few words from thousands of people.
After agencies including the Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse pulled a photo Kensington Palace shared March 10 of Kate Middleton with kids Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5, royal expert Omid Scobie weighed in with his snapshot of the situation.
"It's fair to say that most photos released by the offices of public figures have been retouched in some way, so as an isolated incident this is just an unfortunate error," the Finding Freedom author wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter) March 11. "But with the Palace's long history of lying, covering up, and even issuing statements on behalf of family members without their permission (cc: Prince Harry), it's becoming increasingly difficult for the public to believe a word (and now photo) they share."
Omid's missive seemed to reference a statement the palace put out from Prince William and Prince Harry in January 2020 slamming a report that William's "bullying attitude" toward Harry's wife Meghan Markle was part of why the Sussexes were stepping away from the family—one Harry said he never signed off on.
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Combine that with Harry's claim in his and Meghan's Netflix series that palace spokespeople "were happy to lie to protect my brother," and, as Omid said, the task for the palace to once again earn the public's trust could be a tough one.
Noted Omid in his March 11 tweet, "Gaining that back at this point is an almost impossible task."
Samir Hussein/WireImage
Though that's not to say the royals and their team aren't doing their best to explain the incident.
The original photo shared to her and William's official social media accounts featured Kate with their children in honor of Mother's Day in the U.K. and served as the first official picture of the Princess since she underwent planned abdominal surgery in January.
Hours later, however, agencies pulled it from their databases and issued "kill notices," or advisories to editors and clients to remove or not use a picture.
"The Associated Press initially published the photo, which was issued by Kensington Palace," the news wire said in a statement to NBC News. "The AP later retracted the image because at closer inspection, it appears that the source had manipulated the image in a way that did not meet AP's photo standards. The photo shows an inconsistency in the alignment of Princess Charlotte's left hand."
E! News reached out to Kensington Palace for comment but did not hear back.
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Kate, however, did address the issue the following day.
"Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing," she explained on X. "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."คำพูดจาก ปั่นสล็อตแตกทุกเกม
And though her statement alone is unlikely to do much to quell the now-constant speculation of Kate's well-being following her January procedure, her recovery has remained consistent with the original timeline the palace laid out.
In January, the Palace said Kate is "unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter" per medical advice. Amid the growing chatter, a spokesperson for the Princess of Wales told E! News on Feb. 29, "Kensington Palace made it clear in January the timelines of the princess' recovery and we'd only be providing significant updates. That guidance stands."
As we wait to see when Kate will resume her official duties, keep calm and catch up on all the recent royal happenings.