Sometimes it’s really important to take a step back and reflect upon how truly weird the UK is.
Unless you have been living under a rock for the last 24 hours, you will probably have read about the latest Royal stooshie.
The short version involves a lovely Mother’s Day photograph of the Princess of Wales and her children.
In the extended-edition of the tale, many people noticed that the photograph didn’t look quite right.
Leaving aside the royal tendency to dress their children in clothes that wouldn’t look out of place in the 18th century, there were small inconsistencies in the image.
Fevered commentary about Kate
Photography experts across the internet took to social media to highlight the apparent editing errors on the fingers; sleeves; clothes patterns; shoes and hair of the assembled cast of Royal characters.
There was fevered commentary about the fact that the Princess wasn’t wearing her wedding ring in the photograph and that the trees in the background looked suspiciously green and lush for this time of year.
Then, late on Sunday night, top global picture agencies began to issue ‘kill notices’ on the photograph because it had been ‘manipulated’ in a way that did not meet their standards.
I’ve never been much of a conspiracy theorist but if @AP @AFP @Reuters & other picture agencies are concerned enough to remove it and ask clients to delete it, there are serious questions for Kensington Palace – which was the source of the photo.
These appears to be the issues 👇 https://t.co/ifcSB9mUzu pic.twitter.com/bH5gN9fJtJ— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) March 10, 2024
This latest development has only fuelled speculation on what is fast becoming one of the most bizarre royal scandals in recent memory.
For weeks, the rumours surrounding Princess Kate have grown in intensity and improbability.
The Princess of Wales was admitted to hospital for ‘’planned abdominal surgery’’ back in January.
The palace said the operation was successful and she would be recuperating at Windsor. We were told that it was unlikely she would return to public duties before Easter.
But speculation about her health was reignited when Prince William pulled out of attending his Godfather’s memorial service due to a personal matter.
The popular hashtag #WheresKate shows what a PR disaster this whole thing has been for the Royal Family.
An information vacuum will always be filled, one way or another.
Which is why increasingly outlandish conspiracy theories about what is really going on in the royal household are beginning to make their way out of the dark recess of the internet and into the newspapers.
Not enough to convince the internet
In response to the furore, a statement was released on the Prince and Princess of Wales official X account.
In it, the Princess apologises for any “confusion” caused by the photograph and said: “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing.”
Apparently Prince William took the picture but it was left to his wife to do the bad photoshop job that led to it being pulled by news agencies.
The post is signed ‘C’ for Catherine. I’m not sure that will be enough to convince the internet that she actually wrote it.
If anything, it will only add to the suspicion that we’re not being told the full story by the couple, who were later pictured leaving Windsor Castle amid calls for the palace to release the unedited photograph.
What a mess.
Even those of us who couldn’t give a jot about the royal family are now invested in what on earth is going on over at the palace.
Everybody is entitled to privacy – especially when it comes to health matters.
But the lines are undoubtedly blurred when you add in a bucket-load of tax-payers’ cash and official photographs that are deemed to have been distorted so heavily that they don’t meet conventional photo-journalism standards.
In trying to quash the story, the palace PR team have given it new life.
At this point, some corners of the internet won’t be satisfied until they see video footage of the Princess of Wales holding up a copy of today’s newspaper.
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