Kate Middleton admits to publishing manipulated family photo after public speculation

In a statement released on Monday, Catherine, Princess of Wales, apologized for posting an edited photo of her and her children. The princess posted the photo on Sunday, honoring Mother’s Day in the U.K. The photo soon came under heavy scrutiny of eagle-eyed viewers, prompting the Associated Press to formally retract the image and describe it as “manipulated.”

What did she say in the apology? Kate shared a message on the official Prince and Princess of Wales X account, admitting that “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing.” She continued by apologizing “for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused.”

The photo only stoked widespread public questions about the Princess’ whereabouts. Kate disappeared from the public eye in December to receive a mysterious abdominal surgery and was not expected to return to her public duties until Easter. British journalist Piers Morgan said the palace should release the original photo to quell conspiracies. He noted that “If it’s just a small bit of harmless retouching gone wrong, nobody will care,” but he predicted that conspiracies “will get way worse” if the original copy is not released.

What kind of editing was done? Online viewers note different cosmetic discrepancies throughout the photo, with photography professionals pointing out several blurred areas throughout the image, a tell-tale sign of editing. Patrick Witty served as a New York Times photo editor for six years and noted “over a dozen areas around Kate’s head that are unnatural.” He postulated that the royals “took the expression from one image and pasted it on top of this one.”

Dig deeper: Listen to Mary Muncy’s report on The World and Everything in It podcast about the rise of AI-generated deep-fake photos and videos.