Intriguing episode this morning after press agencies withdrew the post-op photo of the Princess of Wales because it had been manipulated.
'After its release, the photo was recalled by photo agencies including Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters, which put out a “kill notice” to halt their distribution of the picture.
“At closer inspection, it appears that the source has manipulated the image,” the AP notice said. A spokesperson for AP told the Telegraph: “The photo shows an inconsistency in the alignment of Princess Charlotte’s left hand.”’
Apparently the photo was taken by William so it’s not a professional job.
My best guess (as a professional photographer myself) is that someone down the distribution chain (e.g. Royal Press office or at AP) decided that Princess Charlotte’s arm looked awkward and decided to “fix” it by cloning out part of her sleeve.
I’m surprised nobody spotted it before it was sent out, it’s quite obvious and clumsily done.
The foliage in the background puzzles me. Did she photoshop in a tree with leaves? The trees in my garden are skeletons, not a leaf to be seen. She did that just to pretty-up a family snapshot IMO.
All a fuss over nothing for me. This isn’t an official royal photo - it’s a snapshot in her Twitter/X account.
It worries me whenever manipulated or AI generated images appear in the press as apparently genuine documentation of an event. Fake images of Trump interacting with Black voters began circulating the other week and I’m sure the run-up to the US election will generate many more.
What I am curious about, but not seen mentoned, is that all the children have their fingers crossed. Maybe hoping the adjusted picture won’t be spotted.
