Topline
Photo wire service Getty Images has accused Kensington Palace of altering a picture of the late Queen Elizabeth II with 10 grandchildren and great-grandchildren allegedly taken by Kate Middleton in 2022, the latest photo editing scandal to hit the royal family that has given rise to increased scrutiny and often wild speculation.
Key Facts
A photo issued to mark what would have been the late monarch’s 97th birthday last April has been called “digitally altered” by Getty Images, the second time in a matter of weeks the royal family has drawn criticism from a news agency for over-editing photos released to the public.
Getty "placed an editor's note on a handout image stating the image has been digitally enhanced at source," the agency told Sky News Tuesday, a move it said is "in accordance with its editorial policy."
In a statement to Forbes, a Getty spokesperson said the agency “is undertaking a review of handout images” and will be placing similar editor’s notes on any images “where the source has suggested they could be digitally enhanced.”
The picture was reportedly taken at Balmoral by the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, who recently was wrapped up in her own scandal after she admitted to editing another altered image released by Kensington Palace.
News outlets, including the Guardian and Business Insider, had pointed out several discrepancies in the photo of the Queen and the children, including unnatural repetition and pattern mismatches.
Kensington Palace did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment Tuesday.
Crucial Quote
"Prince Louis appears to have been moved back into the frame, while locks of a great granddaughter’s hair show telltale repetitions," the Guardian’s Vanessa Thorpe wrote of the Queen Elizabeth II photo. "Back then, though, the image was not urgently ‘killed’ by the leading international photo agencies, like the latest one, because it didn’t matter so much.”
Key Background
Getty’s revelation about the years-old photo follows a scandal out of Kensington Palace that saw several news agencies pull a photo of Middleton and her children from circulation earlier this month. The photo, released March 10, was the first official portrait of the Princess of Wales to be released since she disappeared from public view in December. It was later announced she would undergo a planned abdominal surgery and postpone her royal duties for months. After the picture was pulled by photo agencies for appearing to be altered, , Kate posted an official statement to social media saying she experiments with editing images like “many amateur photographers" and apologized for causing "confusion." The photo served to fuel speculation surrounding Kate’s continued absence from the public eye, with conspiracies raging on social media. On Monday, tabloids published a video of Kate walking with her husband, Prince William, over the weekend. It is the first video of the princess seen since Christmas Day.