How Much Photo Editing Does Kate Middleton Do? Another ‘Digitally Manipulated’ Image Found

Lots of people are fed up of hearing about Kate Middleton and her apparent penchant for Photoshop. But as yet another major photo agency goes on record to say another of her images was “digitally enhanced,” there is a need for transparency.

In recent days, suspicions have surfaced over a photo shared by The Prince and Princess of Wales (credited to Kate) showing the late Queen Elizabeth II surrounded by 10 of her grandchildren. It was posted in April 2023.

The image contains similar botches to the now infamous Mother’s Day Photo and Getty Images, one of the world’s largest photo agencies, has warned the image “has been digitally enhanced at source.”

We know that Kate is a photography enthusiast, which I think is great. I sincerely hope that she is a PetaPixel reader and fan of Chris Niccolls and Jordan Drake. And as so many have pointed out, what’s wrong with ironing out the kinks in a photo to create an overall better image? After all, is that not what the vast majority of photographers do on a daily basis?

Those people would be right, except when you or I are messing with layers and the clone stamp tool to get a picture looking perfect, that image is not then sent to global news agencies who disseminate it to the world’s media.

Agencies such as Reuters, Getty, Associated Press, and AFP must be trusted news sources for fair society to function. That is why they have strict rules on what can and can’t be altered in a photo.

I remember being shocked when I was told by a Reuters photographer that they’re not even allowed to boost the contrast on a photo because what is most important is that there are trusted news agencies who are capturing the world as it is and without altering the scene on which they are reporting. It’s vital for them to report the truth.

So, if Kate has Photoshopped in all of the Queen’s grandkids and sent it over to AP’s photo desk without mentioning the scene is fabricated, it undermines the entire news picture system and, by extension, society’s trust.

I’m starting to suspect that Kate is an avid photo editor and has been arranging, airbrushing, and altering her family photos for some time now. And if that’s true, it’s impressive that the future Queen of England is also pretty handy with layer masks in Photoshop.

But surely someone inside Kensington Palace knew what she was doing and they should have told her to stop it. Perhaps she didn’t know that it’s a big deal to hand off inaccurate photos to the world’s media. But she does now.

I’ll say to Kate what my old photo editor used to say to me: “Get it right in camera. It will save you a lot of hassle.”