Words by<\/strong> Jessica Barrett<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/GettyImages-1833142789.jpg” alt=”Jennifer Aniston” title_text=”The Princess Of Wales Opens Evelina London’s New Children’s Day Surgery Unit” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″] In a period of already deepening controversy, this week the Prince and Princess of Wales appeared to throw a lit match onto the flames of speculation about Kate Middleton\u2019s health. In a move that was already seen as answering to the mounting pressure from the public, wondering about the princess\u2019s whereabouts since her abdominal surgery in mid-January, the future King and his wife released a photograph of Kate and their three children to mark Mother\u2019s Day on Sunday 9th March. <\/p>\n And yet, it only served to create even more controversy and speculation around the princess\u2019s wellbeing and whereabouts. Then, in a shock development, the photograph was recalled by some of the world\u2019s biggest picture agencies over claims it had been \u2018manipulated\u2019.<\/p>\n The image – which first appeared on the Prince and Princess of Wales\u2019s official Instagram account on Sunday morning – shows the 42-year-old sitting on a chair, dressed casually in a navy jumper, jeans and boots, at their home in Windsor, surrounded by her three children Prince George, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte. But, shortly after its release, the photo was recalled by photo agencies including Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters, which put out a \u2018kill notice\u2019 to halt their distribution of the picture because of apparent manipulation.<\/p>\n \u2018At closer inspection, it appears that the source has manipulated the image,\u2019 the AP notice said. A spokesperson for AP told the Telegraph: \u2018The photo shows an inconsistency in the alignment of Princess Charlotte\u2019s left hand.\u2019 Reuters picture editors said part of the sleeve of Princess Charlotte\u2019s cardigan did not line up properly, suggesting that the image had been altered. Reuters said it could not immediately establish how, why or by whom the alteration had been made. Associated Press said that according to its \u2018news values and principles\u2019, minor edits to photos including cropping, toning and colour adjustment are \u2018acceptable when necessary for clear and accurate reproduction and should maintain the authentic nature of the photograph\u2019.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-quote” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_font=”Libre Bodoni|||on|||||” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_text_color=”#333333″ header_2_font_size=”40px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″] Amidst a sea of social media and news reports about the doctored image – including a front page story in The Telegraph – the Palace answered back. In an unprecedented move, the Princess of Wales wrote in an Instagram story, \u2018Like many amateur photographs, 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\u2019s Day.\u2019<\/p>\n The photograph remains on the Prince and Princess of Wales\u2019s social media accounts where it was first shared on Sunday morning, with a caption containing a message thanking well-wishers for their support. \u2018Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months,\u2019 the message read, referring to the time the Princess of Wales has taken off since her surgery in mid-January. \u2018Wishing everyone a Happy Mother\u2019s Day. C.\u2019 Kensington Palace said the image was taken in Windsor last week by the Prince of Wales.<\/p>\n The photoshopping of this image, and the princess\u2019s speedy apology have only served to make a tense period for The Firm even worse – with some commentators describing the past 24 hours as a huge blow to monarchy\u2019s trustworthiness. As ITV\u2019s Royal Editor Chris Ship wrote on X on Monday, \u2018The way to close everything down would be to release the original photo on which Kate decided to “experiment with editing”. That’s very unlikely, mind you\u2026\u2019. He added in a post on ITV\u2019s website, \u2018It\u2019s notoriously difficult to get a good snap when you have three children in the same photo. Did someone swap in one or more of the children from one of the other attempts or \u201ctakes\u201d? If that were the case, then it is a clumsy error which has had widespread consequences. Because after all the rumours about Kate\u2019s health, a digitally-altered photograph was not going to make those rumours go away. In fact, they\u2019ve simply grown overnight.\u2019<\/p>\n Indeed, conspiracy theories have now reached an all time high on social media, with some pointing out that Kate isn\u2019t wearing her wedding ring or engagement ring, and others questioning if the photograph is in fact an old one, with TikTokers claiming to have found clues it had been taken in November 2023 (with one user @allynaston pointing out the similarities in the outfits in the photograph with those worn by the family during an appearance last year). One X user claimed we are living in a \u2018dystopian level of disinformation\u2019 when it comes to how the Palace is handling the fallout from Kate\u2019s illness and the speculation surrounding it. Former BBC presenter Peter Hunt wrote on X, formerly Twitter, \u2018Their challenge is that people will now question whether they can be trusted and believed when they next issue a health update.\u2019 <\/p>\n This comes just a week after Kensington Palace delivered a snappy sounding comment in response to gossip site Page Six, who had questioned the Princess\u2019s whereabouts as worrying conspiracy theories continued to circulate. \u2018Kensington Palace made it clear in January the timelines of the princess\u2019 recovery and we\u2019d only be providing significant updates,\u2019 a spokesperson said. \u2018That guidance stands.\u2019 They added that the princess is \u2018doing well\u2019.<\/p>\n And so, this latest turn in the already dramatic sequence of events is one of the biggest blows to the Royal family at a time when they need it least. With the Princess of Wales out of action, King Charles undergoing cancer treatment, Prince Harry still very much estranged and Queen Camilla taking a break from public duties, Prince William is under more pressure than ever to stand up and serve his country and calm the storm which is raging around them. Putting out an altered image has turned out to be one of the worst decisions he and Kate could have made. Time will only tell what happens next, and how their public image recovers from such dark and controversial speculation.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#111111″ divider_position=”center” divider_weight=”2px” module_class=”custom-divider” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-texts” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|||on|||||” text_orientation=”center” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”] Photo: <\/b>Getty<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The photoshopping of this image, and the princess\u2019s speedy apology have only served to make a tense period for The Firm even worse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":2295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"kschwarz","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2294"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2302,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2294\/revisions\/2302"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u2018Their challenge is that people will now question whether they can be trusted and believed when they next issue a health update.\u2019<\/h2>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]