PICTURE IMPERFECT
Kate Middleton’s picture editing scandal ‘could put an end to sweet royal tradition’, expert fears
Royal enthusiasts thought they had spotted a number of discrepancies in the photo
A ROYAL expert has warned that Kate Middleton's pictured editing scandal "could put an end" to a sweet royal tradition.
Kate apologised after Kensington Palace posted a digitally altered family picture taken by the Prince of Wales at Adelaide Cottage, the family’s home in Windsor, in celebration of Mother’s Day.
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The heartwarming pic of Kate beaming with her children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, was shared on Sunday.
But several major photo agencies then withdrew the 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.
It's become something of a tradition for Kate to offer informal family snaps that have been taken by her to mark the likes of her children's birthdays.
But that sweet royal tradition could soon come to an end, according to one royal expert.
Speaking to the , Ingrid Seward said: "Perhaps William and Kate will decide it is just not worth the trouble of taking their own pictures and releasing them to the media?
"It might be a wise precaution.
"When Prince William was a toddler, Charles and Diana allowed a few photographers and a TV camera into their walled garden at Kensington Palace.
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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
"The pressmen duly photographed little Wills and the pictures were distributed to newspapers, agencies and TV channels. It worked well."
But Diana then begun using her favourite photographer Tim Graham to take "private" photographs.
These snaps were then distributed to everyone who wanted them.
The royal biographer continued: "The recent controversy has caused Kate and William considerable stress and upset.
"The Princess of Wales shouldn’t have had to apologise for providing us all with a beautiful photograph, albeit taken by her husband."
While pretty much every photograph is air-brushed to some extent, Seward said the "massive significance" of the photo played a role.
She said: "It was to prove to the world that Kate was recovering well.
"But once it was revealed the snap had been altered by her photoshop, its authenticity was called into question.
"She has had huge sympathy, but she must wish she had never agreed to the idea. Sadly she may not again."
PHOTOSHOP SAGA
Kate is believed to have altered the image three times on a computer before it was posted on social media on Sunday.
Inspection of the original image revealed it was taken on a Canon camera with a 50mm lens.
It had been edited three times on Adobe Photoshop — once on Friday evening and twice on Saturday.
Royal enthusiasts had questioned why Kate wasn’t wearing her wedding ring in the Mother’s Day snap and noticed her other hand was blurry.
Others said daughter Charlotte’s cardigan sleeve seemed to disappear and her skirt was fuzzy.
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.
Some claimed there seemed to be an odd cut in a nearby skirting board.
And in a colour-corrected and lightened version of the image, Kate’s zip appears not to line up.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
She apologised on Monday, saying: “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.”
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