Kate Middleton’s photo crisis: Why did it create controversy and be withdrawn?

When we think of the British Royal Family, it’s normal to think of strange rumors and conspiracy theories. The most recent example was about Princess of Wales Kate Middleton, who had an abdominal operation in January and has not been seen in public since then. The photo, shared by Kensington Palace itself to end the rumors about him, caused more rumors and led to a crisis. So how did the crisis arise? Why was the photo withdrawn and what’s wrong with the photo?

It all started with a photo taken by Prince William on the morning of Sunday, March 10, shared by Kensington Palace and served to subscribers by agencies. In this photo shared for Mother’s Day, Princess of Wales Kate Middleton was laughing with her children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.,

After the photo went viral on social media in a short time and users detected “manipulations” in the photo, the world’s leading international news agencies Reuters, Associated Press (AP), AFP and Getty deleted the photo from their systems on the grounds of manipulation and warned their subscribers. For example, in the information note he sent to AP subscribers, he said, “When we examined the photo, we realized that it looked like it had been doctored.”

The only place that did not retract the photo was the country’s largest agency, PA Media. PA Media announced that they requested information from Buckingham Palace on the subject. The expected explanation has arrived, but first let’s look at the problems in the photo:

“There is an inconsistency in Middleton’s left hand,” the AP said in its information note to its subscribers. It was true. There is a play on the sleeve of Charlotte’s cardigan at the point where Middleton’s left hand is seen on her daughter Charlotte’s waist. This image comes to mind: “I wonder if Charlotte’s hand was copied from another photo?” raised the question.

Another detail is Charlotte’s skirt. When you look at the photo, you wonder, “Does a skirt normally look like this?” You will ask the question.

The questions and problems are endless, another one is Kate’s blurry hand hugging Louis.

According to careful social media users, the fact that the trees and grass in the background look so green in winter brought to mind the question of whether the background of the photo was created by artificial intelligence.

What statement did Kensington make?

While these discussions continue, Kate Middleton said the following in her statement on Kensington Palace’s social media account:

“Like many amateur photographers, I try experimental photo editing. I apologize for the confusion caused by the photo we shared yesterday. I hope everyone had a very happy Mother’s Day.”

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. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day. C

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) March 11, 2024

What happened?

The purpose of the photo shared from Kensington Palace was not a classic Mother’s Day celebration. The goal was to stop speculation and conspiracy theories about Kate. But it didn’t happen as expected.

So why are conspiracy theories being produced about Kate?

The 42-year-old Princess had surgery on her abdominal area on January 17. It was said that Kate, who was hospitalized for two weeks, would not appear in public until the beginning of April. After Kate disappeared without giving any details, some questions were raised: Is she at odds with her husband? Is he having psychological problems? Is he in a coma?

Following Kate’s surgery, King Charles was also diagnosed with cancer, which increased these conspiracy theories.