Senior royals urged to ‘use a professional’
A former royal photographer believes controversy over the Princess of Wales’s official Mother’s Day picture has shown younger members of the Royal Family why they must get professionals to edit their images.
Ian Lloyd said that Kate, a keen amateur photographer who studied art history at St Andrews University, was the only front-rank royal he knew who edited their own images.
Mr Lloyd, who has photographed royals including the late Queen Elizabeth II, said members of the Royal Family had historically instructed official photographers such as Sir Cecil Beaton to ensure favourable images were used. They did not take part in the post-production process.
Kate was forced to apologise after international photo agencies pulled the image after realising it had been manipulated. It was the first authorised image of the Princess of Wales since she underwent abdominal surgery in January.
Mr Lloyd said the furore over a family shot of Kate, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis showed that the Palace should ensure any editing should not be done by royals again.
“I think they should probably outsource it to somebody that is a top professional and who is capable, but also discreet,” Mr Lloyd said. “You’ve got to find a secure company or an individual that’s used to dealing with state politicians or top notch-celebrities.”
While Kate would probably continue to explore her interest privately, anything for public consumption from now on will have to be “squeaky clean”, he said, “Or else everybody will ignore the photograph, zooming in to see what has been done to it.”
Royal sources said the Princess made “minor adjustments” and that Kate and the Prince of Wales wanted to offer an informal picture of the family together for Mother’s Day.
She reportedly just “tried to make it the best it could be” because she knew how important it was for it to be “a nice picture”.
A US court has dismissed a defamation case brought against the Duchess of Sussex by her half-sister, Samantha Markle, over comments she made on her Netflix show and to chat show host Oprah Winfrey.