15 March 2024 , 11:47
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While many of us experiment with editing photos from time to time, when you’re in the public eye a bit of photoshopping can get tongues wagging for all the wrong reasons. The Princess of Wales was forced to apologise after making changes to a photo of her with her children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis on Mother’s Day. But she’s not the first royal to be caught out for editing family photos - the Spanish royal family sparked debate in 2005 when mistakes were spotted in a photo of the King and Queen.
When Kate Middleton published the first official picture of her since she went into hospital for abdominal surgery, she had no idea it would hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons. The photograph of her and her three children may have looked like a normal family photo, but eagle eyed viewers spotted something suspicious. On closer examination, there is a missing part of Princess Charlotte’s sleeve, the edge of her skirt is misaligned and the positioning of Kate’s zip doesn’t look right.
The speculation led to it being pulled from circulation by news agencies and the next day Kate publicly for the "confusion" the image caused as she admitted to experimenting with editing. But it isn't the first time a royal photograph has made headlines following Photoshop alterations. In 2005, the Spanish royal palace was forced to admit that a Christmas card photo of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia with their grandchildren had been digitally put together.
King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia caused a media storm with a photoshopped Christmas card in 2005 (Getty Images)The above image shows the couple sitting on a red sofa with Queen Sofia holding newborn Princess Leonor. Sitting in front of the king and queen are Felipe, Victoria Eugenia, Miguel, Juan holding his sister Irene, and Pablo. But Juan Carlos' right leg had been edited out of the photograph. At the time a spokesperson explained: "It is not a photograph of an official event - it is merely a compilation used as a Christmas greeting."
But it didn’t end there - portraits of the then Crown Prince Felipe dressed in the uniforms of three different military uniforms sparked a row within the Spanish media that the same headshot of the royal had been used and superimposed for every shot. A spokesperson from the palace at the time reiterated that the photographs were authentic.
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On Monday Kate said on social media: "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 had to brush off speculation surrounding Kate's health following wild conspiracy theories on social media. A spokesperson said: "We were very clear from the outset that the Princess of Wales was out until after Easter and Kensington Palace would only be providing updates when something was significant."