KING OF ARTS
Relaxed Prince William jokes ‘my wife is the arty one’ as he brushes off Princess Kate’s photo editing saga
The heir to the throne also revealed an insight into his children's artistic ability
PRINCE William today joked his "wife is the arty one" as he brushed off her photoshop drama.
The Prince of Wales grinned as he carried on with his Royal duties - despite his family being caught up in a furore over Princess Kate's pic.
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His wife Kate Middleton, 42, hasn't been seen since Christmas - undergoing an abdominal operation in January, with the Palace confirming the mum-of-three would not be undertaking Royal duties until after Easter.
But Royal fans grew concerned at not seeing Kate - with a Mother's Day photo released by the Palace sparking a furore when it appeared to have been altered.
Kate then released a statement about her attempt to amend the photo, and the "confusion" it caused.
She said in a statement: "Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing.
"I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused.
"I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day. C."
Several major photo agencies ultimately withdrew the Mother's Day snap, the first official shot of Kate since abdominal surgery in January, over fears it had been “edited at source”.
The Princess of Wales was said to be “very sad” that the sweet photograph had triggered a global furore.
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And while Prince William did not directly address the furore as he appeared in public today, he did admit his wife was "the arty one".
Editor of The Sun newspaper Victoria Newton says it's time to give the Princess of Wales a break from the backlash to her edited Mother's Day photo
Wills tried to hand at decorating biscuits at a youth centre in London - and mocked his own attempts.
While chatting to kids at the event and struggling with the icing, bashful Wills admitted: "My wife is the arty one. Even my children are artier than me."
Cheery Prince William sat down with the kids and asked them about their mobile phone usage as he brushed off the photoshop saga.
West is a new £12 million centre providing a wealth of facilities for eight to 18-year-olds.
William quizzed children about their phone habits.
Sitting down with a group working on a mental health project, he asked: "How much time do you spend on your phone a day?" adding with a laugh, "We can all be honest about this."
When one teenage girl said 15 hours, he replied: "Fifteen hours, that's quite a lot - I bet you feel better coming here."
West, which stands for Where Everyone Sticks Together, was named by the youngsters who use the Shepherd's Bush facility.
The centre officially opens in April.
William appeared keen to see all aspects of West which is the 15th facility established by OnSide, a national youth centre charity.
The future King brought up the issue of mobile phone use again after he washed his hands, put on an apron and spread icing on a biscuit before decorating it.
He said: "Grown-ups are guilty of it too... we got to be better on our phones too - we spend ages on our phones."
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Why were 'kill notices' issued?
News agencies ordered a "kill notice" on the picture late Sunday night.
The removal orders were sent after "manipulation" on the image was discovered.
AP's order said the reason for killing the story was: "At closer inspection it appears that the source has manipulated the image."
The order then directs those who have used the photo to remove it from all platforms, including social.
Agence France-Press ordered the "mandatory kill" due to an "editorial issue" and directed that the image may no longer be used.
Reuters said the photo “has been withdrawn following a post publication review.”
Getty Images said: “For editorial reasons, please remove the following image(s) from your system and do not use in any manner.”
Getty said its picture desk "identified a problematic image" provided by the palace and removed it from its site "in accordance with our editorial policy."
PA said: "Like other news agencies, PA Media issued the handout image provided by Kensington Palace of the Princess of Wales and her children in good faith yesterday.
"We became aware of concerns about the image and we carried a report about it last night, and made clear that we were seeking urgent clarification about the image from Kensington Palace.
"In the absence of that clarification, we are killing the image from our picture service."
Each of the news agencies have their own editorial guidelines which govern how they treat images.
AP says that pictures "must always tell the truth" and that it does not alter or manipulate the content of a photograph in any way.
Its guidelines say: "The content of a photograph must not be altered in PhotoShop or by any other means. No element should be digitally added to or subtracted from any photograph."
However, AP says minor adjustments are allowed, they include cropping, colour adjustments, and light adjustments.
When asked to name his favourite biscuit, William got an appreciative "ohh" from the children when he mentioned a popular sweet treat.
He said: "That's a hard one to say what my favourite is, I like quite a lot. Chocolate digestives ... I like a KitKat as well - other things are available."
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