Kate’s doctored family photo for Mother’s Day was edited twice on Adobe Photoshop in recent days before being released by Kensington Palace.
The Princess of Wales has taken the blame for the photo being altered, which led to it being retracted by six news agencies in the hours after it was published.
Now it has emerged that a file of the image was saved to the image editing software twice on an Apple Mac – once on Friday at 9.54pm and again on Saturday at 9.39am.
It is unclear whether these two saves were made on the same device and by whom, although Kate has since admitted that she ‘experimented with editing’.
Data in the file – known as ‘metadata’ – also showed the image was taken on a Canon 5D mark IV camera costing £2,930 with a Canon 50mm lens costing £1,630.
The metadata shows that Adobe Photoshop version 23.5 was used to edit the image on an Apple Mac. On the second line from the bottom it says: ‘Adobe Photoshop 23.5 (Macintosh)’
The second edit was made on Saturday at 9.39, according to the image metadata, which bottom line says it had a ‘modified date’ of March 9, 2024 with a timestamp of 09:39
The image was taken on a Canon 5D mark IV camera with a 50mm lens, with the metadata giving information about ‘EF50mm’ – which is a Canon model
Details of the metadata were revealed by Sky News data and forensics unit, which analyzed the file – although it is still not clear what was actually changed.
Sky News reporter Rhiannon Mills said: ‘We actually looked into the metadata – so behind this image there’s a whole range of information if you dig into it – and found that the image was saved in Adobe Photoshop and it was edited twice.
‘So on two occasions the picture was changed. What we don’t yet know at the moment is exactly how the changes were made – and at the moment the palace is not going there as to what exactly was changed in the image.’
Kensington Palace is now facing calls to release the original image after the princess issued an apology.
Kate apologized in a statement on social media which read: ‘Like many amateur photographers I occasionally experiment with editing.
‘I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion caused by the family photo we shared yesterday. I hope everyone who celebrated had a very happy Mother’s Day. C.’
The photograph of Kate and her children, taken by William, was the first to be issued since the princess’ stomach surgery and was released by the palace to mark Mother’s Day.
But it was withdrawn with a ‘Kill’ notice by international picture agencies hours later, and the UK’s PA news agency today, amid suspicions it had been tampered with.
Kensington Palace yesterday released the first photo of the Princess of Wales since the operation
The PA news agency said it had withdrawn the photo of Kate from its image service today
Royal sources said the Princess of Wales made “minor adjustments” and that Kate and the Prince of Wales wanted to provide an informal photo of the family together for Mother’s Day.
‘This was an amateur family photo taken by the Prince of Wales. Their Royal Highnesses wanted to offer an informal picture of the family together for Mother’s Day,’ the source said.
‘The Princess made minor adjustments as she shared in her statement on social media, The Wales family spent Mother’s Day together and had a wonderful day.’
Despite calls for the original to be released, Kensington Palace said it would not re-release the unedited photograph of Kate and her children.
The palace faced increasing pressure over the debacle, with the controversy branded as damaging to public confidence in the royal family.
Concerns were raised over a missing part of Princess Charlotte’s sleeve and the wrong edge of her skirt, with other speculation including the location of Kate’s zip.
The image was released to reassure the public amid escalating conspiracy theories online over Kate’s state of health in recent weeks, but in an extraordinary twist sparked what is being dubbed ‘Kategate’ and even ‘Sleevegate’.
William and Kate have an established track record of releasing their own photographs, often taken by Kate rather than William, to mark special occasions, including their children’s birthdays.
But the princess’s confession raises questions about whether – or to what extent – the images have been altered in the past.
It looks like Charlotte’s hand was copied over from another image as there is an empty space where her sleeve should be
Kate’s zipper appears to be misaligned in the photo as the top of it is further to the left and appears significantly lighter than the rest of the zipper
Public relations and crisis consultant Mark Borkowski called the failure a ‘massive own goal’ and said the unedited image should be released to regain trust.
He said: ‘It’s likely she’s at home playing with the computer and using an AI tool, but if they really want to regain any trust they should release the unedited image, it can’t be that bad if they just made a few tweaks.
‘I think they’ve risen to the challenge, assuming the statement as an explanation – the question is with all the conspiracy theories going around, will people believe it, and I’m not sure they will.’
Borkowski said the Mother’s Day photo had exposed a PR problem for the monarchy: “It’s the issue that there doesn’t seem to be as much concerted strategic thinking at the heart of the royal family at the moment, leading to these problems where it is a very difficult organization to manage in relation to PR.’
He added: “It’s a nightmare, even the softer stories about Edward, who turns 60 this week, haven’t resonated at all because nobody’s interested in them, they’re interested in the stars, they’re not interested in the supporting cast, and it is a problem at the moment.
‘They are under pressure, massively under pressure, this is a massive own goal.’
The controversy is set to overshadow the Commonwealth Day service, one of the most important royal events of the year.
Charlotte’s hair appears to end abruptly at her shoulder on her right side, although her hair on the left goes a few inches
The corner of Charlotte’s skirt was pointed out as another ‘editing error’ by social media pundits
Crown Prince William and the Queen will join the royal family at Westminster Abbey on Monday in the absence of the King, who continues treatment for cancer during what has been a challenging start to 2024 for the Windsors.
Earlier, Kate’s uncle Gary Goldsmith defended the Welsh, claiming they would not have been responsible for altering the image.
The Celebrity Big Brother hunk said: “Obviously the family wouldn’t be the ones to do any retouching so if it’s gone through some sort of filter before it’s out into the wider world, but they would don’t photoshop yourself.’
He told Good Morning Britain: ‘The smiles on the faces said it all for me, I thought it was beautiful.’
Mr. Goldsmith added: “And this whole ‘sleevegate’ thing, just leave it alone.”
Royal writer Omid Scobie, who was seen as a cheerleader for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, accused the palace of having a ‘long history of lying’ and said it was now ‘an almost impossible task’ to win over the public trust back.
Scobie wrote on X that if it was an isolated incident it was an ‘unfortunate mistake’.
He added: ‘But with the palace’s long history of lying, covering up and even issuing statements on behalf of family members without their permission (cc: Prince Harry), it’s becoming increasingly difficult for the public to believe a word (and now photo) they shares.
Kate posted an apology on the Prince and Princess of Wales’ Instagram account this morning
‘Getting it back at this point is an almost impossible task.’
The princess is known to be a keen photographer and revealed in 2021 that she takes so many family photos that her children sometimes protest.
“Everyone says, ‘Mum, please don’t take pictures,'” she said.
Kate underwent surgery at the London Clinic on January 16, but details of her condition have been kept private and she is not expected to return to official duties until after Easter.