The royal family hopes the story of Kate Middleton’s doctored family photos goes away soon and hopes everyone will remember and respect what they say is Kate’s timeline, which she underwent in January and plans to return to after Easter. Royal duties. Her supporters say she did not alter the photos for cosmetic purposes. But if that’s the case, why not release the original image as Kensington Palace has so far steadfastly refused to do?
Prince William and Kate’s disastrous social media post to mark Mother’s Day in the UK sparked a crisis the royal family has never seen before, with rumors of fakery, body doubles, spousal abuse, divorce and even cover-ups following Kate’s admission about the photo Allegations of the death have mushroomed online. has been changed.a source told evening standard: “It’s all very sad. She’s still recovering from abdominal surgery. She just wanted to look better for the photos.”
Official explanation leaked to London era What seemed to be going on Monday night was as follows: William took the photos on Friday (a claim supported by the photo metadata), Kate edited them on Photoshop and sent them to her email account on Saturday morning Assistant, with instructions for sending them to social media on Sunday Media Channel. Aides sent the photos without scrutinizing them. After the photos were accused of being manipulated, Kate felt bad and thought it was best to “admit it” and took responsibility in her follow-up social media posts.
To casual observers of the royal family, it may seem unlikely that Kate personally edits photos for global distribution without them being carefully scrutinized by a large staff, but to seasoned royal observers, it appears to be true, There are several reasons.
First, since Prince George was born, Kate and William have taken numerous photos of their child themselves for global media, specifically to give themselves more control over those photos.
“I’m absolutely convinced that they sent the pictures over and said: “Send them off” and there wasn’t a culture at Kensington Palace of saying: “Well, maybe not, sir.”“
— former courtier
Second, Kate fantasizes about being a photographer, and editing software is now part of that.
Third, they have a reputation for hiring yes men and women who agree with their suggestions.
“The two words you don’t hear in KP are, ‘No, sir,'” one former courtier told The Daily Beast when discussing the disaster. “I’m absolutely convinced that they sent the photos and said, ‘Send them off,’ and there’s not a culture at Kensington Palace to say, ‘Well, maybe not, sir.'” It’s not that they’re mean bullies, they’re just hired Those who wouldn’t object, and those who dared have been fired long ago. “
Some reports also indicate that William only recently hired a new private secretary (the position closest to a chief of staff), while Kate currently has no personal secretary at all, another possible reason for the lack of discipline in the office. Just as importantly, the photos were apparently only sent to their employees on Saturdays, meaning fewer people saw them than would be the case on a weekday in the office.
However, these factors haven’t convinced the internet, and more sophisticated theories about what’s going on are flourishing, especially after Kate issued a statement in an attempt to quell the furor – unlikely, as technical manipulation aside, the photo shows She wasn’t wearing any of her wedding rings or engagement rings.
Her statement read: “Like many amateur photographers, I occasionally experiment with editing. I would like to apologize for any confusion caused by the family photos we shared yesterday. I hope everyone celebrating Mother’s Day had a great time A happy Mother’s Day.”
Naturally, this little-to-see remark sent internet sleuths into a new frenzy. The most common theory online is that the photo was stitched together from many different photos, with what was posted on social media bearing little resemblance to the photo taken or taken on Friday afternoon.
A family photo purportedly taken by Prince William and altered by Kate Middleton; some believe the photo itself is a composite of other images.
Prince of Wales/Kensington Palace/Reuters Handout
In fact, The Daily Beast’s founding editor Tina Brown made this claim in a discussion with CBS, saying she believed there was no “original” image, just a “puzzle” of images. Brown said she had “deep doubts” that there were originals after the presenter said Buckingham Palace refused to release them after the controversy erupted, making her reconsider.
The Daily Beast asked William and Kate’s team if they could confirm that the photo had only been lightly edited, but they did not respond.
It’s truly shocking how radiant Kate looks in the photos as we learn she’s recovering from surgery and won’t be sick enough to make a brief public appearance in three months. Of course, her flawless hair and makeup could be the result of a small team of experts being summoned to her Windsor residence. The glam team is never far away from the rich or famous who need to look their best ASAP.
According to palace insiders people: “She may be royalty, but she’s also a human being. If you’ve just had surgery, you want to look your best in the first photo you release to the outside world.”
Insiders told people The controversy was “a bump in the road, not an earthquake,” adding that “Kate has apologized and been polite. She did what 99% of us would do, but we don’t get as much scrutiny as they do.” Imagine the level of scrutiny people look at her photos. You’re always showing, and you always have to look perfect.”
In fact, her face is so perfect that a very popular theory circulating on social media claims that her face may have been grabbed from a photo used for the photo shoot. Fashion 2016 cover story.
A video showing how easy it is is expected to be viewed 50 million times on Twitter.
Time will tell if it surpasses the 83 million views of the original image Kate posted, which will vividly illustrate the importance of such social media clips today.
Another variation on the theme claims the photo was taken in November last year, when Kate and her children visited a charity baby bank.
More bizarre claims include a Spanish journalist’s report in February that Kate was in a near-death coma (which Buckingham Palace denies), and the theory that Kate is dead and Buckingham Palace is using a body double. The “body double” theme first came up last week when Kate was photographed in a car with her mother, with others pointing out that Kate looked very different in the car than in the photo.
It took on new life when Kate was photographed on Monday in the back seat of a car with her husband, her face turned to the side and obscured. William was to attend a Commonwealth Day ceremony, and Buckingham Palace said Kate was attending a “private engagement.”
Skeptics online now believe the photo is fake. However, prominent photojournalists have refuted this claim.
But the reality is that claims that would normally be dismissed without a second thought are now getting millions of views on social media, and the royal family has only themselves to blame. Since Kate announced her retirement from public life, Buckingham Palace (likely at the behest of Kate and William themselves) has done a shocking job of making it clear to the media and public that nothing weird is going on at all.
Ironically, after William mysteriously pulled out of a memorial service for his godfather, King Constantine of Greece, at the last minute for personal reasons, and after the photos were doctored, many are now convinced that something very extraordinary did indeed happen. strange things.