Kate Middleton Criticized for Having ‘No Understanding of the Gravity’ of Her Photoshop Fail

Kate Middleton probably wants to recover from her abdominal surgery in peace, but the palace has been rocked by one scandal after another since her leave of absence. While Kensington Palace had a soft response to their use of manipulated images, critics are chomping at the bit because they see it as a more serious infraction.

The Princess of Wales’ Mother’s Day photo, which she heavily edited with glaring errors, paved the path for respected news agencies to order a “kill notice” for the snapshot and for Phil Chetwynd, the global news director of Agence France-Presse, to call the royal family not a “trusted source.” Kate probably thought that her apology would end the mess, but the damage had been done. “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused,” she wrote on X.

One photo agency source told The Telegraph that the royal family’s lackadaisical approach to the PR nightmare is a big part of their problem. “It’s nice that the Princess has been shooting her own stuff, but she appears to have no understanding of the gravity of what she’s done by changing the image before putting it out for circulation,” they explained. In an era with fake news, mistrust of the media, and AI becoming a part of the public’s daily lives, journalists and photographers must be as accurate as possible — and that’s not what Kate delivered with her family photo.

A former royal photographer also blamed “William and Harry for being control freaks when it comes to pictures of their own children” because “they grew up hating the paparazzi for chasing Princess Diana around.” We don’t blame the brothers for wanting to protect their children from the glare of the spotlight, but photographers are saying the palace needs to find a happy medium — the paparazzi route doesn’t work, but neither does Kate’s amateur editing.

“The solution will surely be to use professional photographers who don’t doctor images and if there’s any comeback it’s down to them,” explained royal author Phil Dampier. The royal family could use a win right now, and it might come with Kate’s healthy return that’s reportedly scheduled for Easter Sunday. But, the days of amateur photography are likely over for the Princess of Wales.