SPEAK OUT
Prince Harry & Meghan Markle break their silence on Princess Kate’s edited picture saga in Archewell statement
Their team allegedly claimed the Sussexes would "never make the same mistake"
PRINCE Harry and Meghan have broken their silence on Princess Kate's photo-shopped family picture.
The Princess of Wales was forced to publicly apologise after she admitted to editing a sweet Mother's Day snap of her and Prince William's kids.
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A source then told that exiled British royals Harry and Meg would "have been annihilated" if they had handed out secretly Photoshopped images of themselves and their family.
They added: "The same rules do not apply to both couples.
"This isn't a mistake that Meghan would ever make… she has a keen eye and freakish attention to detail."
But the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have now hit back with a scathing statement from their Archewell Foundation.
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"With respect to Page Six, that did not come from us," a spokesperson told .
The Sun's picture desk found 12 clues that show likely editing - including a cropped sleeve, mismatched zip and Charlotte's angular skirt.
Kate was said to be "very sad" that the sweet snap triggered a global furore.
She is believed to have altered it three times on a computer before it was posted on social media on Sunday.
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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.
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
Experts claim several areas have been altered - ranging from Charlotte's cuff to even Kate replacing her face.
Picture agencies withdrew, or "killed", the image when discrepancies were discovered.
Kensington Palace refused to release the original photo, explain which parts had been altered, or say why.
Kate, 42, who is recovering from abdominal surgery, apologised in a statement.
Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing.
Princess Kate
She wrote: "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."
It comes as the Sussexes have recently hired a UK-based PR guru to fix their "popularity problem".
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Harry is also said to be open to returning to royal duty to ease the burden on his father while he undergoes cancer treatment.
Meghan, meanwhile, is reportedly preparing for a 'relaunch' in Britain to boost publicity for their foundation, Archewell, and spearhead a new project.
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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.
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