11 March 2024 , 12:09
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Kensington Palace has been urged to release the unedited version of the controversial Kate photo.
The Princess of Wales posted the snap which shows her surrounded by her three kids to mark Mother's Day, alongside a message thanking people for their support as she continues her recovery from surgery. However, amateur detectives were quick to point out a number of 'errors', which appeared to be the result of a botched editing job.
Multiple agencies then announced they had issued a 'kill notice' last night, with major UK agency Press Association (PA), then also pulling the image, due to potential 'manipulation'. With the Palace refusing to officially address the matter, Kate then posted on X taking responsibility and apologising.
She said: "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."
It has further fuelled conspiracy theories surrounding Kate, who has not been seen since Christmas, with her undergoing an abdominal op in January at a private London clinic at the same time Prince Charles was undergoing treatment for an enlarged prostrate prior to his cancer diagnosis.
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Now, public relations and crisis consultant Mark Borkowski said about Kate’s statement: “It’s plausible she’s at home playing with the computer and using an AI tool, but if they’re really going to regain any sort of trust they should release the unedited photo, it can’t be that bad if they just made a few tweaks.
“I find they have risen to the challenge, provided the statement as an explanation – the question is with all the conspiracy theories running around, is whether people believe it and I’m not sure that they will.”
He said the Mother’s Day photo had exposed a public relations problem for the monarchy: “That’s the issue, there doesn’t seem to be that much joined up strategic thinking at the heart of the royal family at the moment, which leads to these problems where it’s a very difficult organisation to manage in terms of PR.”
He added: “It’s a nightmare, even the softer stories of Edward turning 60 this week haven’t really resonated at all because no one’s interested in them, they’re interested in the stars. They’re not interested in the supporting cast and that is a problem at the moment.
“They are under pressure, massively under pressure, this is a massive own goal.”