‘Manipulated’ photo of Kate sparks controversy as Kensington Palace keeps quiet

Kensington Palace is facing increasing pressure over a “manipulated” official photo of the Princess of Wales, with the controversy branded “damaging” to public trust in the royal family.

The family portrait of Kate and her children, taken by the Prince of Wales, was the first to be published since the princess’s abdominal surgery and was released by the Palace to mark Mother’s Day.

But the photo was removed with a “kill” notice by international news agencies hours later – and by Britain’s PA news agency on Monday – due to suspicions it had been digitally altered.

Concerns have been raised over a missing section of Princess Charlotte’s sleeve and the misaligned edge of her skirt, with other speculation including the positioning of Kate’s zip.

The photo was released to reassure the public amid a surge in conspiracy theories about Kate’s health online in recent weeks, but the controversy – dubbed “Kategate” and “Sleevegate” – has been described as an “extraordinary” turn of events.

Graham Smith, of anti-monarchy group Republic, said: “If the palace cannot offer a simple and innocent explanation then ‘Kategate’ will do serious damage to the monarchy.”

“The manipulation of an image the palace claims was taken by William is extraordinary.

“If true, this is a deliberate attempt to mislead the public.”

He added: “This kind of dystopian behaviour you would expect from Soviet Russia, not from modern Britain.

“The monarchy has always sought to manipulate and manage its image, but if it tried to fake a photo to silence online conspiracy theories, that is shameful.”

Kensington Palace has declined to comment so far, but the controversy is expected to overshadow the Commonwealth Day ceremony, one of the key royal events of the year.

Heir to the throne William and the Queen will meet with the royal family at Westminster Abbey on Monday in the absence of the king, who continues his cancer treatment during what has been a difficult start to 2024 for the Windsors.

Meanwhile, Kate’s uncle Gary Goldsmith defended Wales and claimed they would not have been responsible for altering the image.

The Celebrity Big Brother evictee said: “Obviously the family wouldn’t be the ones doing the editing, so if it went through a filter before it was broadcast to the world, but they wouldn’t be editing it themselves.”

He told Good Morning Britain: “The smiles on the faces said it all to me, I thought it was beautiful.”

Mr Goldsmith added: “And this whole ‘sleevegate’ thing, leave it alone.”

Royal photographer Ian Lloyd told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the situation was “very strange”.

“I’ve never seen this before, where they criticize a photograph and try to remove it because there are obviously inaccuracies and someone at Kensington Palace is not very good with Photoshop,” he added.

The photo shows Kate sitting on a chair with her arms around Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, who are on either side of her, with Prince George standing behind, as all four smile at the camera.

In her social media post, Kate thanked the public “for your well wishes and continued support over the last two months.”

Royal commentator Peter Hunt said: “It’s damaging to the Royal Family.

“They knew that any photo of Kate they published would generate intense interest.

“Their challenge is that people will now question whether they can be trusted and believed the next time they post a health update.”

The photo of the princess is the first released since she was admitted to the London Clinic for what the palace said was a planned operation on January 16.

Details of the princess’s condition have not been released, but Kensington Palace has said it is not cancer-related and that Kate wants her personal medical information to remain private.

The future Queen, 42, was last pictured in public on a Christmas Day walk in Sandringham, Norfolk.

Kate is not expected to return to official duties until Easter, and William, 41, has temporarily stepped away from his royal role to juggle caring for her and their children while he recovers.

The PA news agency said it would remove the image from its photo service.

A spokesperson for the UK’s national news agency said: “Like other news organisations, PA Media yesterday published in good faith the image provided by Kensington Palace of the Princess of Wales and her children.

“We have acknowledged the concerns raised by this image and have published a report on it last night, and have made clear that we are seeking urgent clarification from Kensington Palace about this image.

“In the absence of this clarification, we are removing the image from our photo service.”