11 March 2024 , 10:20
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The PA news agency said it would be withdrawing the controversial Kate image from its picture service.
A spokesperson for the UK’s national news agency said: “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. 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 Associated Press (AP) Reuters, Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Getty Images all separately spiked the photo and each deleted it from their individual libraries last night. A notice from the Associated Press read: "At closer inspection it appears that the source has manipulated the image."
This comes as AP sent an alert requesting that the image be "killed" from their system, stating: "At closer inspection, it appears that the source has modified the image." AP also referred to an "inconsistency in the alignment of Princess Charlotte's left hand".
A 'kill notification' is an industry term used to retract a photo previously handed out to publications. While AP said there was no suggestion the photo was fake, it retracted it because it said on closer inspection, the source had manipulated the image in a way that did not meet the agency's photo standards.
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This morning Kate issued an apology for any confusion after a photo of her and her children to mark Mother's Day was accused of being "manipulated". Last night, several of the world's biggest international photo agencies said the photograph issued yesterday. The Associated Press (AP) Reuters, Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Getty Images all separately issued a "kill notice" to media organisations around the globe, confirming they had each deleted the image from their individual libraries. It saw Kensington Palace come under "increasing pressure" to address the controversy.
And now in a statement, Kate said in a statement on X: "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"
Kensington Palace has so far refused to address the issue officially. A palace source said: "The Princess has shared a statement on social media. This was an amateur, family photograph taken by the Prince of Wales. Their royal highnesses wanted to offer an informal picture of the family together for Mother's Day. The Princess made minor adjustments as she shared in her statement on social media. The Wales family spent Mother’s Day together and had a wonderful day."