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LONDON – It was a simple family photo seemingly intended to show the world that Kate, Princess of Wales, was okay.
Instead, the image released on Sunday has only added fuel to a global storm of speculation and conspiracy theories, after it emerged that the image, Kate’s first since undergoing abdominal surgery in January, had been potentially manipulated.
A belated explanation came on Monday with a post on Kensington Palace’s social media channels.
“Like many amateur photographers, I occasionally experiment with editing,” read the post, which was signed “C,” apparently indicating it was written by Kate, whose full name is Catherine. “I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion caused by the family photo we shared yesterday.”
Confusion is one word for the previous 24 hours, in which the Internet guessing game ranged from measured analysis to outright conspiratorial guesswork. This had already spread after Kate took a long step back from her royal duties following the unspecified surgery.
But the photo, a fire blanket, has instead acted like gasoline.
At first it was just social media detectives pointing out apparent discrepancies with the image. But then four of the world’s largest news agencies, The Associated Press, Reuters, Getty Images and Agence France-Presse, issued what are known as “takedown notices,” a notice to broadcasters and newspapers not to use the picture.
“Upon closer inspection, it appears that the source” (in this case, the royal family) “has edited the image,” the AP said.
The image was posted on William and Kate’s Instagram account to mark Mother’s Day in the UK on Sunday and officially posted at their residence, Kensington Palace.
It shows Kate posing in a garden with the couple’s three children, Prince Louis, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, and the palace said it was taken by William.
Typically, such a photograph would attract positive coverage on the front page of the British press, allowing the royals to spread the desired message in a carefully managed way.
But The Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail, two right-wing newspapers that can usually be relied upon to support the royals, did not shy away from controversy on Monday morning.
“Palace photo manipulated, say agencies,” the Telegraph headlined on its front page while the Mail said: “This cheerful Mother’s Day photograph was meant to be the peace of mind we all needed. But has it turned out to be counterproductive?
Prior to Kensington Palace’s explanatory post on social media, NBC News had requested comment from the family with no response.
Far from any nefarious plot, photography experts said the photo may have simply been edited to clean up the image or stitch together different shots, avoiding the challenge of getting three children to sit still and smile at the same time.
But the death notice published by the photo agencies is nevertheless a rare and serious step.
“When this image initially appeared on all of our social media channels, everyone breathed a sigh of relief because here was Catherine looking beautiful, healthy, happy and clearly recovering well,” NBC News royal contributor Katie Nicholl said.
“But a few hours after that image came to light, four international news agencies decided to remove it,” he told NBC’s “TODAY.” “I certainly don’t remember this ever happening in my career as a royal correspondent.”
Some royal watchers saw it as another unnecessary public relations misstep by the royal family as it navigates a new era after the death of the hugely popular Queen Elizabeth II.
King Charles III was praised for sharing his cancer diagnosis last month. But many doctors and other health experts criticized him for hiding what type of cancer he had, making it difficult for the public to follow his lead and get tested.
That tension between the modern demand for details and the royal tradition of secrecy was also evident with the information gap surrounding Kate’s surgery and her removal from sight.
“Managing the royal press is not easy,” said Catherine Mayer, author of “King Charles III, Charles: The Heart of a King.” said in a post on X. “But this does not explain serial errors in real communications.”
He said even posting Kate’s photo, without other details, was a questionable tactic: “You either fuel demands for information or you don’t.”