- By Emma Harrison & Sean Coughlan
- BBC News
The Princess of Wales has apologised “for any confusion” after she said she edited a Mother’s Day photograph of her and her children.
Her statement was posted on Kensington Palace social media after five agencies retracted it over editing concerns.
“Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” Catherine said.
The image, taken by the Prince of Wales, was the first of Catherine to be released since her surgery in January.
PA, Getty Images, AFP, Associated Press (AP) and Reuters had removed the image. AP noted an “inconsistency in alignment of Princess Charlotte’s left hand”.
The Princess of Wales was seen on Monday being driven out of Windsor in a car with Prince William, as he travelled to the Commonwealth Day service which she did not attend.
In her statement on X, formerly Twitter, Catherine said: “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’s Day. C.”
The apology, posted to social media, comes from the official account of the Prince and Princess of Wales, but it has the personal sign off of “C”, for Catherine.
She is taking responsibility for the changes to the photograph, rather than her husband Prince William, who took the photo, or any of the wider team around the royal couple.
According to royal sources, there were “minor adjustments” made by the Princess of Wales to the picture that was then posted online by Kensington Palace.
Kensington Palace said it would not be reissuing the original unedited photograph of Catherine and her children.
We know the photograph was edited, but some basic information about the image remains unknown – such as when exactly it was taken, what was changed or whether it was a composite of a number of pictures.
The photograph shows the princess sitting down, surrounded by Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis and Prince George, the latter wrapping his arms around her.
It was the first official photo of the Princess of Wales since her abdominal surgery two months ago. Since then she has stayed out of the public eye.
The image was posted with a message from Catherine which said: “Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months.
“Wishing everyone a Happy Mother’s Day.”
The photo was only intended as an “amateur, family photograph” released to mark Mother’s Day, say royal sources.
The implication is that this was not a piece of professional manipulation, but some tidying up of a picture capturing a family moment.
Except that this was not just a personal picture, it was going to be shared with the world, against a background in which it would inevitably be seen as an attempt to stop the speculation and conspiracy theories about Catherine, as she recovers from an operation.
‘Raising more questions’
Instead of providing an answer to such rumours it inadvertently ended up raising more questions.
The photo will also lead to discussions about how media outlets should use images or social media clips which are produced without any independent journalists being involved.
Although most public royal events will have professional photographers and press representatives, this was seen as a private moment, captured by the family themselves, as the princess recovers.
The only previous photo of the princess…
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