A photograph released by the Kensington Palace taken by Princess Kate of Queen Elizabeth with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren has been “digitally enhanced”. This is the second royal retouching controversy to strike Kate Middleton after concerns were raised regarding the Mother’s Day photo which she edited.
The controversy also erupts as Kate Middleton was spotted in public for the first time in months.
The featured image in this story published features an image by Reuters which also found eight inconsistencies. The news agency also released a statement: “Reuters is updating its procedures related to vetting images from Kensington Palace after confirming a second altered photograph. Consistent with the Thomson Reuters Trust Principles, Reuters requires that photos meet its editorial standards for image quality, accuracy and reliability”.
The photo shared above is a family portrait of Britain’s late Queen Elizabeth II with some of her grandchildren and great grandchildren (back row, left to right) Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, James, Earl of Wessex, (middle row, left to right) Lena Tindall, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Isla Phillips, Prince Louis, (front row, left to right) Mia Tindall holding Lucas Tindall, and Savannah Phillips, taken at Balmoral Castle, Britain.
The news agency says “there were eight places where the picture had been clearly altered by digital cloning”.
“While Getty, Reuters and other news organisations did not at the time spot any issues with the handout, the examination of the photograph by Reuters photo editors has found that there were eight places where the picture had been clearly altered by digital cloning. Reuters could not immediately establish why the alterations were made,” the news agency further explained.
Digital cloning is the process of copying pixels to either move or mask objects or areas in a photo.
Getty Images as well as CNN has said the photograph of Queen Elizabeth with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren was “digitally enhanced”. CNN said it found signs of alteration in at least 19 places in the photo.
The CNN report found that the photo released from the Balmoral has several inconsistencies. Firstly, there’s a misalignment on the Queen’s skirt and blanket, as well as on the sofa she sits on. Strands of Princess Charlotte’s hair seem to have been cloned. The edge of Prince Louis’ shoulder is blurred and appears to overlap the background. The lighting on several royals doesn’t match the overall lighting of the picture.
The broadcaster also reached out to Getty Images who released this statement: “Getty Images is undertaking a review of handout images and in accordance with its editorial policy is placing an editor’s note on images where the source has suggested they could be digitally enhanced”.
Earlier this month, Reuters and other prominent news outlets retracted a photo of Kate with her children, released by the palace for Mother’s Day, due to editorial standards. The next day, Kate apologised for any confusion and concerns her photo may have caused.
“Like many amateur photographers, I occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused,” she said in a statement on X.
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