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cnn
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Another official photograph involving Catherine, Princess of Wales, was digitally manipulated, according to a leading photo agency, sparking a second controversy over royal retouching just as Kate was seen in public for the first time in months.
Getty Images said the photograph of Queen Elizabeth with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, taken by Kate and released by Kensington Palace last year, has been “digitally enhanced” and a CNN analysis found signs of alteration in up to 19 places.
A similar saga follows over a Mother’s Day photograph of Catherine and her children, said to have been taken by Prince William, which was also photoshopped. Seeking to quell the uproar that followed the first edited photo, Kate apologized and claimed last Monday that she liked to “experiment” with editing images.
Newly discovered inconsistencies in a second royal photograph put Kate at the center of even more questions and threaten to ruin the royals’ relationships with major news and photography agencies.
It is a controversy that will not be welcomed by the Welsh, as it comes amid a period of intense scrutiny over the princess’s health and status.
On Saturday, Prince William and Kate were seen and photographed at a farm shop near their home, easing concerns about their health.
The princess was also photographed earlier this month inside her private car leaving Windsor Castle, while attending a private appointment on March 11, Kensington Palace previously told CNN.
She had not been seen in public since the palace said she underwent abdominal surgery in January.
The most recent controversy centers on an image published in April 2023, showing the Queen, who had died the previous September, surrounded by 10 of her young relatives.
The palace said it had been taken by Kate at Balmoral Castle in Scotland in the months before the Queen’s death, but the corrections have led to confusion over whether the image was actually stitched together from several different shots.
Inconsistencies in the Balmoral photo include a misalignment in the Queen’s skirt and blanket and in the sofa she is sitting on. Princess Charlotte’s hair strands appear to have been cloned, while the edge of Prince Louis’ shoulder is blurred and appears to overlap the background. The lighting on several royals in the photo also doesn’t match the overall lighting of the image.
Getty said in an editor’s note that the image “has been digitally enhanced at source.” CNN has contacted the agency; Kensington Palace declined to comment when contacted on Tuesday.
In a statement to CNN, the company said: “Getty Images is conducting a review of the brochure images and, in accordance with its editorial policy, is placing an editor’s note on images where the source has suggested they could be digitally improved.
In Kate’s brief apology for the Mother’s Day photo, she did not explain why she altered her photographs, nor why Kensington Palace did not disclose her changes to photo agencies.
The rebuke from Getty and others is more than just an embarrassment to the royals.
The family, like countless governments and institutions around the world, relies on agencies to distribute its images to the media. But these companies have strict rules that allow only minimal editing; By secretly manipulating their images in various locations, the royals have presented themselves as potential distributors of misinformation.
Getty in particular has long had a close relationship with Kensington Palace; They have often been invited to do royal photo shoots and have sponsored royal events.
Kate has been taking a break from public duties while she recovers from her surgery, a prolonged absence that led to a series of online conspiracy theories and questions about her health in the British media. Meanwhile, King Charles III has taken on lighter duties after announcing his cancer diagnosis in February.