Royally 'Upset': Princess Kate Thought 'Honesty Was the Best Policy' With Photoshop Scandal

Catherine, Princess of Wales, broke one of the monarchy's cardinal rules of "never explain" when she personally apologized for her Mother's Day photoshop mishap. Sources close to Her Royal Highness said she was simply trying to make the image "the best it could be" and that she is "deeply upset" by the furor her editing has caused.

The future queen released a photograph on Sunday, March 10, that featured herself, and her three children, Princes George and Louis and Princess Charlotte. A huge controversy arose sometime later when major media outlets such as the Associated Press and Reuters recalled the image due to suspicious alterations found within it. The snap was taken by Prince William and is the first clear image of the princess since Christmas Day 2023.

Scouts on social media noticed a litany of editing mishaps, with Charlotte's hands being called out as "clearly cut and paste" from previous images. Conspiracies even arose that the photo of the Princess of Wales was an old image from when she appeared in a magazine years ago.

Kate issued an apology for altering the image on her and William's social media accounts, which is a rare thing for a senior, British royal to do. Monarchy traditionalists quickly scolded Her Royal Highness for "playing to the gallery," which is one of the distinctions of royalty in that no response "kills the sensationalism," according to a palace insider.

"Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing," the future queen posted on X. "I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused."

"This has been blown out of all proportion, a complete non-story made huge by the usual suspects," someone wrote on the platform in response to HRH's apology.

"Everyone edits photos. You don’t need to apologize. The photo was wonderful," someone else shared.

Although the social media response was "on fire" after Kate's post, many analysts claim that it was the "major publication" fallout that truly "blew this out of proportion," according to a royal source.

"Like other news agencies, PA Media issued the handout image provided by Kensington Palace of the Princess of Wales and her children in good faith yesterday," a spokesperson for the U.K.’s national news agency shared in a press release.

"We became aware of concerns about the image and we carried a report about it last night, and made clear that we were seeking urgent clarification about the image from Kensington Palace. In the absence of that clarification, we are killing the image from our picture service," they added.

A palace insider further shared: "A mother of three photoshopped an image of herself and her kids to look pristine just like millions of other parents do — how in the world could this possibly be a controversial story?"

The New York Post reported on the insider revelations.