Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, has come under fire for altering a family photo which was released by the palace almost a year ago, as per a report in The Telegraph. The picture shared by the official X account of the Prince and Princess of Wales showed Queen Elizabeth among her great-grandchildren and grandchildren. As per the credits on the post, it was taken by Kate Middleton and made public on April 21, 2023, the day the monarch would have been 97 years old. Despite being available to the public for over a year, Getty Images revealed on Monday that the image had been manipulated.
The global picture agency said that the image was "digitally enhanced at source". It was clicked at Balmoral in August 2022 and was reviewed by Getty after Ms Middleton recently admitted that she had edited a picture of herself and her children, which was shared on Mother's Day.
A spokesman for Getty told The Telegraph, "Getty Images has reviewed the image in question and placed an editor's note on it, stating that the image has been digitally enhanced at source."
Here is the image which was shared by the Princess of Wales last year:
Standing at the back in the picture are the Queen's grandchildren- Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor and James, Earl of Wessex, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh's children. Lena Tindall, Mike and Zara Tindall's daughter, Prince George and Princess Charlotte- the Prince and Princess of Wales's two older children, Isla Phillips, Peter Phillips' daughter, and Prince Louis, the Prince and Princess of Wales's youngest child, are standing in front of them.
Mia Tindall is seated to the monarch's right with baby Lucas Tindall, while Savannah Phillips is seated to her left.
The Telegraph drew attention to "a number of irregularities'" such as a digital replication of Mia Tindall's hair and a vertical line where the tartan of the late Queen's garment does not match. "A dark shadow is visible behind Prince Louis's ear, and a similar small black patch can be seen behind Prince George's shirt collar," the report added.
The manipulated images come at a time when concerns around false or misleading visual information are at an all-time high, particularly following the rapid advances in generative artificial intelligence.
Meanwhile, global news director of Agence France-Presse (AFP) Phil Chetwynd recently said that his publication will no longer view Kensington Palace as a "trusted source" after the Princess of Wales posted a manipulated image on Mother's Day.
"At this moment in time, AFP's trust in handout pictures from the (Kensington) Palace has been compromised. We cannot say they are a trusted source for handout pictures. We still require further explanations."
