Princess Kate says she edited picture
News agencies retracted image
LONDON — Catherine, Princess of Wales, said Monday she had been the one who altered an official photo that was retracted by global news agencies over concerns that it had been doctored.
“Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” Catherine said in a post Monday morning. “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,” she wrote in a message on Kensington Palace’s social media account. It was signed “C” for Catherine.
The photo in question was released by Kensington Palace on Sunday morning in celebration of Mother’s Day in Britain. Catherine was shown sitting on a chair, surrounded by her three smiling children.
It was the first official photograph of the princess released since her abdominal surgery in January, and it seemed like an attempt to reassure Britons and quell wild rumors and conspiracy theories that have surrounded the princess since she suspended her public appearances.
It did not have that effect. Global news agencies, including Reuters, Getty Images, Agence France-Presse, and the Associated Press, asked their clients Sunday evening to withdraw the image, with some citing a problem with the alignment of Princess Charlotte’s sleeve and wrist. Others on social media flagged what they said were oddities, such as the positioning of Prince Louis’s hands and the zipper on Catherine’s jacket.
Prince William and Catherine often release photos of their family on major occasions, such as Christmas or their children’s birthdays. Often it is Catherine, a keen photographer, behind the camera. But the palace said William took this photo earlier in the week at their home in Windsor.
The news release accompanying the photo asked that news outlets not alter the image “in any manner or form,” but it did not mention that the image had already been altered.
The princess’s last public appearance was on Christmas, when she was photographed attending a church service in Sandringham. Kensington Palace announced in January that she would probably not resume official duties before April. The palace also said Catherine was recovering at her home in Windsor.
Royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith said the alteration of the photo had the potential to “create a rather large credibility problem.”
“What were they thinking?” she said. “Here’s a woman out of the public eye for more than 70 days. There’s mounting anxiety, speculation, conspiracy theories.”