A major news organisation removed a photo of the Princess of Wales and her children this morning – saying the source may have “manipulated the image”.
The photo, which was posted to Instagram and X this morning, shows the princess surrounded by her three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.
It’s the first official photo of the princess released by Kensington Palace since she underwent abdominal surgery on January 16.
This morning, news agency Associated Press (AP) sent an email out to organisations they supply content to (including 1News), saying their story could not be used.
Getty and Reuters have also withdrawn the image.
The email from AP read: “At closer inspection it appears that the source has manipulated the image.”
Several oddities have been highlighted in the photo, including Kate’s missing wedding ring, the odd positioning of Prince Louis’ hand, a section of tiles appearing to be blurred, and Princess Charlotte’s left hand not lining up with her cardigan.
On AP’s website, the agency states: "AP images must always be accurate. We do not alter or digitally manipulate the content of a photo or video except as stated below."
Only “minor adjustments” like cropping, dodging and burning, conversion into grayscale, elimination of dust on camera sensors and scratches on scanned negatives or scanned prints and normal toning and colour adjustments can be made.
“These should be limited to those minimally necessary for clear and accurate reproduction and that restore the authentic nature of the photograph.”
ITV royal editor Chris Ship said: “I’ve never been much of a conspiracy theorist but if AP, AFP and Reuters & other picture agencies are concerned enough to remove it and ask clients to delete it, there are serious questions for Kensington Palace - which was the source of the photo.”
Kensington Palace is yet to comment.
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