Inside 24 hours of Palace chaos after Kate admits she edited Mother's Day photo
After Kate admitted making several changes to a picture, released to celebrate Mother’s Day, showing her embracing her three children at their Windsor home, the Palace was plunged into chaos.
The Princess of Wales apologised Kate admitted making several changes to a picture, released to celebrate Mother’s Day, showing her embracing her three children at their Windsor home. She released a message on social media yesterday morning following a day of speculation over the "manipulated" family picture.
A statement released on social media by the princess at 10.28am yesterday and signed C for Catherine, 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".
Kate admitted she edited the photo (PA)
She shared a statement on social media (Tim Rooke/REX/Shutterstock)Concerns were raised over a missing part of Charlotte's sleeve and the misaligned edge of her skirt, with other speculation including the positioning of Kate's zip, and the misshapen patterns on both George’s and Louis’s jumpers. The picture was released to reassure the public amid escalating conspiracy theories online over the state of Kate's health in recent weeks, but the controversy - dubbed "Kategate" and "Sleevegate" - has been labelled an "extraordinary" turn of events by royal sources.
A friend said she the future queen “would likely be upset by the furore caused by what was supposed to be an innocent family photograph.” Royal sources said the Princess of Wales made "minor adjustments" and insisted that Kate and her husband Prince William simply wanted to offer an informal picture of the family together for Mother's Day.
Six teachers open up on 'difficult' strike decision - and why they are doing it
"The Wales family spent Mother's Day together and had a wonderful day," the source added. Kensington Palace faced mounting pressure to explain the error after aides refused on Sunday to comment on growing speculation over the debacle.
Kate and William often share the photos they take (Getty Images)After the princess’ statement the palace once again refused to be drawn on what parts of the image had been changed or explain the reasons why. Royal sources branded the controversy "exceptionally damaging" to the public's trust of the royal family.
The Waleses have an established track record of issuing their own photographs, often taken by Kate rather than William, to mark special occasions including their children's birthdays. But the princess's confession raises questions over whether - or to what extent - the images have been altered in the past.
Public relations and crisis consultant Mark Borkowski called the fiasco a "massive own goal" and said the unedited photograph should be released to regain trust. He said: "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." Mr Borkowski 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.
“They are under pressure, massively under pressure, this is a massive own goal." The princess, 42, who is not expected to return to official duties until after Easter following abdominal surgery on January 16, was yesterday seen travelling in a car with William, 41, as he made his way to London for the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey.
She did not accompany her husband to the event, with aides saying she had a “private appointment”. A royal source said: “It is a bad day at the office for the palace and something which will no doubt be reflected on in future.”
The photo row further intensified yesterday after the deputy news director of AFP said the photo had been “badly edited” and manipulated in a way that didn't meet its standards. The agency also pointed to an inconsistency in the alignment of Princess Charlotte's left hand.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
