Kate apologizes for ‘any confusion’ over photo edit

LONDON — Kate, Britain’s Princess of Wales, issued an apology on social media on Monday for “any confusion” caused by an edited photograph which had been issued by her office Kensington Palace the previous day.

Several leading news organizations including Reuters withdrew the picture of Kate, 42, posing with her three children after post-publication analysis showed it did not meet their editorial standards.

“Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” the message on X said, signed with a “C” meaning it was sent by Kate. “I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused.”

In the picture a smiling Kate, 42, was shown posing with her beaming children Princes George and Louis and Princess Charlotte in Windsor, where the family live. Kensington Palace said the photo had been taken by her husband, heir to the throne Prince William, last week.

News agencies including Getty, Reuters, the Associated Press and AFP and the Press Association, later withdrew the photograph. Reuters picture editors said part of the sleeve of Kate’s daughter’s cardigan did not line up properly, suggesting that the image had been altered.

A royal source said Kate had wanted to post an informal picture of her family to mark Mother’s Day, which was celebrated in Britain on Sunday, and had made minor adjustments.

Broadcasters with access to the original image said an examination of its metadata showed it had been saved in photo editing software Adobe Photoshop twice on an Apple Mac.

The picture had already attracted huge media attention as it was the first official photograph of Kate since she spent two weeks in hospital after undergoing abdominal surgery in January for a noncancerous but unspecified condition.