A photo taken of Kate, Duchess of Wales with the late Queen Elizabeth II and her grandchildren has been “digitally” altered, according to a photo agency that examined the photos after the Princess of Wales’ Mother’s Day portrait scandal.
The latest royal photo to come under scrutiny was taken by Middleton, 42, in August 2022, and then reprinted by Buckingham Palace on April 21, 2023, to honor the late Queen, who would have turned 97 on the same day. It has reportedly been made public.
In the photo, the late Queen is seen sitting on a sofa inside Balmoral Castle with 10 of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
However, Getty Images warned in a new editor’s note that the images were “digitally manipulated at the source.”
Getty flagged the photo after reviewing the photo released by the royal family after Middleton admitted editing her Mother’s Day family portrait.
There appear to be multiple oddities in this photo The Telegraph was first to report.
One of the most obvious contradictions can be seen on the side of the Queen’s tartan skirt. The plaid is not aligned and appears to have been cut and rearranged in the image.
The green sofa the Queen is sitting on is similarly shifted next to her great-granddaughter Savannah Phillips and under Prince George’s hand. And behind the color of George’s shirt, you can see a patch of black where the pattern of his cousin’s dress should be.
A black dot also appears next to Prince Louis’ ear, and a jagged outline reveals other colors behind the silhouette. Another jagged, randomly colored strip can be found right next to the armrest of the sofa.
Last week, a major news agency issued a “death” threat after it emerged that Middleton had posted photos of her and her three children that had been doctored.
The princess later admitted that she had edited the portrait.
“Like many amateur photographers, I experiment with editing from time to time,” she said in a statement. Posted in X Last Monday. “We would like to apologize for any confusion caused by the family photo we shared yesterday.”
Kensington Palace released the Mother’s Day photo amid concerns about Middleton’s health after undergoing abdominal surgery. However, the doctored photo only further fueled conspiracy theories about her whereabouts, as she did not appear in public for several weeks after her surgery.
Another notable (but unrelated) aspect of the Queen’s photo is the absence of Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet among her grandchildren. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s children live across the ocean in California and were not in Scotland to visit the Queen that summer.
Kensington Palace declined to comment when contacted by the Telegraph.
