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PICTURE BLUNDER
Kate broke golden rule when editing her pic – it was sloppy & she’s learned her lesson, says Sun’s Royal Photographer
Sun legend Arthur Edwards says the internet's 'conspiracies' will upset Kate
PRINCESS Kate broke the golden rule when it comes to editing the Mother's Day picture, says The Sun's Royal Photographer.
Longtime snapper Arthur Edwards, 83, says Kate's editing was sloppy and the image did the opposite of what it was supposed to do.
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The photographer, who received an MBE in 2003, said Kate had learnt a "tough and very public lesson" in doctoring the photo.
He told The Sun: "It’s a golden rule that while you can crop a picture, you never, ever interfere with the image itself."
"Kate shouldn’t have done it and she was right to put her hand up and admit to her mistake so quickly."
He said social media had been full of an ";avalanche of disgusting bile and hateful comments" over the fracas.
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"Now the conspiracies are flying thick and fast — not that these people need any encouragement.
"These cheap shots at Kate will be upsetting for her."
Some, like Sun columnist Piers Morgan, had called for Kensington Palace to release the unedited version taken by Prince William.
Arthur said it was unsurprising that Kensington Palace didn't want to release the original image.
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He said that the Palace wanted to "draw a line" under the incident and save Kate further embarrassment.
"But of course this comes amid all the speculation as to what’s happening with Kate, who, bar a brief picture yesterday and last week, none of us has seen since December.
William brushes off Photoshop drama as he attends celebration without Kate
"So many people — myself included — have been eager for an update on the Princess of Wales’s health since she underwent abdominal surgery in January."
Arthur said that despite the editing, it still was a lovely image.
He said: "A bodged attempt at photographic manipulation it may have been, but I still think it’s a delightful image.
"Kate looks radiant and so proud on Mother’s Day, surrounded by her loving kids.
It’s full of uplifting love and emotion.
Kate may have tinkered with other parts of the picture but there’s no faking that."
Kensington Palace has said Kate will return to public life after Easter.
The Ministry of Defence had mistakenly publicised that she would review a dress rehearsal at the Horse Guards Parade for the Trooping of the Colour on June 8.
The photo controversy started over the weekend when internet sleuths spotted the photo had been edited.
Picture agencies which had syndicated the photo then pulled it, saying the photo had been "manipulated".
Arthur said those agencies had made the right decision.
He said: "They have to make sure they have the public’s trust that the images they distribute are true and accurate representations."
"Official photographs distributed by the Palace or Government should be beyond reproach," he said.
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Arthur has photographed the Princess of Wales since she was a student at St Andrews.
He has taken some of the most intimate and memorable photographs of the Royal Family and Kate since beginning work for The Sun in 1975.
ROYAL PHOTOSHOP FAILS OVER THE YEARS
KATE'S Mother's Day picture isn't the first time the royals have found themselves caught up in editing fails.
Christmas 2023
Prince Louis appeared to be missing a finger in the Wales' latest Christmas card.
Fans also spotted another odd detail in the photo, saying that Prince William's leg appeared to be missing.
The late Queen's hand retouched
A portrait of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip appeared to have been Photo-shopped.
There is something odd about the monarch's clasped hands in the picture, which was put out a couple of years before she died in September 2022.
Eagle-eyed royal fans spotted an odd dark outline around the edge of the Queen's right hand, which they claimed suggested it had been cut in from an alternative image.
'Zombie' Kate
An image of the Princess of Wales was used on the front of the Australian publication Woman’s Day.
It looks like someone touched up the photo of Kate’s face ahead of the birth of Prince Louis in 2018.
subsequently penned a scathing review, referring to the airbrushing as "creepy zombie photoshopping".
Wills' bald spot
Vanity Fair was accused of thickening Prince William's hair during a shoot after the birth of George.
In response, the publication insisted it had simply added more colours to make the photo look more “vibrant”.
George edits
US Weekly changed George's appearance while he was still a baby.
The second-in-line to the throne gained greener eyes, pinker lips, more colourful hair and chubbier cheeks when he appeared on the cover of the publication in 2014.
Smaller waist
The Press Complaints Commission was called in when Grazia magazine edited a snap of Princess Kate on her wedding day in 2011 to make her waist look slimmer.
The publication admitted altering the photo but claimed it was an inadvertent error when they cut her husband William out of the image.
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