- Written by Thomas Mackintosh & Daniela Relf
- bbc news
Four international photo agencies have withdrawn photos of the Princess of Wales and her children, citing concerns that they have been “manipulated”.
The image, taken by Prince William on Mother's Day, is the first public photo Kensington Palace has released of Kate since her surgery in January.
However, Getty Images, AFP, Reuters, and Associated Press all took down the photo, pointing out “an inconsistency in the position of Princess Charlotte's left hand.''
Kensington Palace declined to comment.
The photo shows the princess sitting surrounded by Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis and Prince George, with the latter putting his arm around her.
This is the first official photo of the Princess of Wales since her abdominal surgery two months ago. Since then, she has stayed away from her public life.
The image was posted on the social media accounts of The Prince and Princess of Wales, along with a message from Kate, Duchess of Wales: “Thank you very much for your kind wishes and continued support over the past two months.''
“Happy Mother's Day, everyone.”
It is customary for the royal couple to share photos of special family events. Often photos are taken by Catherine and published to the media with instructions on how to use them.
But before images of Prince William's family were posted online, they would have gone through Kensington Palace's social media team, which manages the Prince and Princess of Wales' online accounts.
The original photo may have been edited in some way, resulting in an inconsistent appearance.
What we don't mean here is that the entire photo is fake or that the Princess of Wales is in worse shape than she appears in the image. That is unlikely and would be a very risky strategy for the Kensington Palace team.
The Mother's Day images appeared on the front pages of several national newspapers and websites, including BBC News, and were also used in television news bulletins, including the BBC.
In order to use the new photo as soon as possible, the BBC took the photo which Kensington Palace used on its social media accounts.
But late Sunday, the Associated Press, one of many international organizations that distributed the photo, issued a “kill notice,” industry parlance for a retraction.
“Upon closer inspection, it appears the source manipulated the image. No replacement photo will be sent,” it read.
A second news agency, Reuters, also said it had withdrawn the image “after post-posting review.” Following this, a third agency, AFP, also issued a “forced killing notice”.
Getty Images became the fourth organization to withdraw the photo.
PA Media, the UK's largest news agency (to which the royal family regularly releases official information, including to the BBC), said it had not removed the photos on its service.
But a spokesperson said the agency was seeking urgent clarification from Kensington Palace over concerns about manipulation.
Most news organizations follow their own strict guidelines for using manipulated photos, and only use them when accompanied by a statement that the image has been altered from the original.
Therefore, news agencies such as the Associated Press promise their clients that the photos are accurate and have not been digitally altered.
AP rules only allow for “minor adjustments” in certain situations, such as cropping, toning, color adjustments, and removing dust on the camera sensor. Changes to density, contrast, color, or saturation levels that “substantially alter the original scene” are not acceptable.
Social media platform X posted its own disclaimer on the Prince and Princess of Wales' official account, saying the images “appear to have been digitally altered.”
At this stage, a more likely explanation is that the photo was overly edited in preparation for publication, which actually cast doubt on its authenticity.
The photo was meant to quiet down conversations about the Princess of Wales' recovery, but instead ended up reigniting all the rumors.
Catherine, 42, spent 13 nights at the London Clinic near Regent's Park in central London after her surgery.
The palace has provided few details about her condition, which has sparked much speculation on social media, but has said it is not related to cancer.
The team supporting the Princess' recovery is small and limited to those closest to her.
The palace said that at the time of her stay, the princess wanted her personal medical information to be kept private, adding that she “wants to maintain as much normality as possible for her children.”
The Palace said it would only provide updates on her recovery if there was significant new information to share.
On Sunday morning, it was thought that the photo would put to rest some extreme theories about the princess's absence from public life. But within hours, social media was abuzz with close-up images of Princess Charlotte's left cuff and Prince Louis' fingers.