Princess Kate and Prince William Were "Astonished" by "Exaggerated" Response to Edited Mother's Day Photo
"The reaction seemed extremely disproportionate."
Earlier this year, Princess Kate and Prince William found themselves at the center of a Photoshop scandal. After releasing a photo of Kate Middleton and their three kids—Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis—for Mother's Day, it was revealed that the image had been manipulated. Now, a royal biographer has revealed how Kate and William felt when the general public reacted negatively to their photo.
Robert Hardman’s book, Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story, has been serialized in the Daily Mail, with the royal expert dishing on Kate and William's Photoshop scandal.
"Anything written or said about the Princess of Wales at that point was at fever pitch and front page news," a Palace employee told Hardman of the incident.
At the time, the photograph was pulled from multiple photo agencies due to being edited. "It also spoke to the nervousness of the photography industry around AI and their future," the Palace source explained. "Even so, the reaction seemed extremely disproportionate."
Of course, Princess Kate only had good intentions when she initially released the image. "As far as the Princess was concerned... this had just been a mother deciding to share a personal picture of her and her children on Mother's Day to bring some joy to the nation," a Palace aide told Hardman.
However, the Prince and Princess of Wales took responsibility for the image, as they have involvement in what the Palace puts out into the world. As the staff member told Hardman, "The Prince and Princess have agency in everything... They are the final decision-makers."
At the time, Princess Kate shared a heartfelt apology regarding the edited photo in an Instagram Story.
"Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing," she explained. "I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused." She signed off the message, writing, "I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother's Day."
Meanwhile, reports suggested that the Princess of Wales felt "awful" over the debacle.
