Princess apologises over altered Mother’s Day photo
Catherine, Princess of Wales, said yesterday that she had been the one who altered an official photo that was retracted by global news agencies over concerns that it had been doctored.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 an online post. “I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused,” she wrote in a message on Kensington Palace’s social media account.
The photo in question was released by Kensington Palace on Sunday, 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, as well as quell wild rumours and conspiracy theories that have surrounded the princess since she suspended her public appearances.
It did not have that effect.
Global news agencies asked their clients 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’ hands and the zipper on Catherine’s jacket.
Britain’s Press Association conveyed that the palace would not be issuing the original unedited photograph of Catherine and her children.
Catherine’s last public appearance was on Christmas Day, 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 and that it would provide updates on her health only when there was “significant new information to share”.
The palace is typically tight-lipped when it comes to royal health but the lack of recent photographs or updates nonetheless fuelled weeks of speculation about her well-being and whereabouts.
Royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith said releasing the original, unedited photo “would go a long way to reassuring people”.
She noted that Catherine made headlines for how stunning she looked after giving birth to her children.
“Maybe there is a culminated impact on her to have to meet that unrealistic standard. She is becoming middle-aged, 42, it would be better for her and rest of us to move along comfortably like Queen Elizabeth did, whom we watched age over time.”