Kate pic ‘taken last year‘: shock new claim

An internet sleuth reckons the doctored image of Princess Catherine and her children was actually taken in late 2023 — and the proof is in what the family is wearing. See for yourself.

A picture can tell a thousand words, but the doctored image of Princess Catherine, recovering from surgery with her children, has so far prompted several million.
Here’s everything we know.

WHY DID PRINCESS CATHERINE APOLOGISE?

On Monday, Princess Catherine issued a public statement apologising for tinkering with the images of herself and her three children sent out by Kensington Palace on Sunday to commemorate Mother’s Day in the UK.

“Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” she acknowledged in the statement, released 24 hours after the image was pulled.

She apologised “for any confusion" and wished British families a happy Mother’s Day.

A combination of pictures shows the photo released by Kensington Palace alongside several inconsistencies in alignments in the image. Picture: Prince of Wales / Kensington Palace/AFP

WHAT WAS CHANGED IN THE PHOTO?

Kensington Palace insisted just one photo taken by Prince William was used.

But the palace has also declined to release the unaltered version of the image, setting speculation ablaze.

Picture agencies withdrew the image from circulation on Sunday, officially “killing” it, but internet sleuths have detected more than a dozen areas of manipulation.
Many noted Catherine was not wearing her wedding ring in the image, while others pointed out Charlotte's hair ended abruptly on her shoulder, and the zip on Princess Catherine’s jacket was suspiciously bright.

last night i saw a theory that the “new” photo released by kensington palace (that we now know was manipulated) is a photo from november and the clothes are just altered AND I CAN’T STOP THINKING ABOUT IT.

when she said they don’t make kate’s sweater in another color i SCREAMED pic.twitter.com/ixJhUTyIRZ

— maybe: diane (@dianelyssa) March 11, 2024

Other inconsistencies in the released image included blurring of Catherine’s right hand, Louis’ right thumb and Charlotte’s cuff, as well as odd distortions in the surroundings.
Many also questioned the leafiness of the tree in the background – a tad unusual for March in London.

Analysis of the metadata of the doctored image by the New York Post showed it had been manipulated at least twice – once at 9.54pm local time on Friday, March 8, and again at 9.39am on Saturday, March 9.

The Princess of Wales launching the Christmas Baby Banks initiative late last year. Internet sleuth Diane Lyssa claims Catherine and Charlotte are wearing the same tops in the doctored image – but the colour of Catherine’s jumper has been changed. Picture: Kensington Palace/YouTube

SO WHEN WAS THE PHOTO TAKEN?

While the released image was initially presumed to have been taken last week, one internet sleuth, Diane Lyssa (@dianelyssa on X/Twitter), claimed there was evidence the photo was actually taken late last year.

She pointed to Catherine’s jumper and boots, saying they were identical to items she (the Princess) was pictured wearing during a visit to a baby bank in Maidenhead late last year, except for the colour of the jumper.
The boots were exactly the same, Ms Lyssa claimed, while the jumper (by fashion label Rice) had been darkened in the doctored photo.

“They don’t make it (in) another colour; they make it in cream and camel,” Ms Lyssa said in her post.

According to Diane Lyssa’s analysis, the turtleneck Catherine is wearing and the frilled neckline of Charlotte’s top are a giveaway. Picture: Kensington Palace/YouTube

She also claimed Princess Charlotte was wearing the same top on the day of the visit to the baby bank that she is wearing in the doctored image, while Prince George’s jumper and shirt were probably also the same, but darkened.

Another internet sleuth, who also happens to work at the UK’s Daily Mirror, claimed the Princess’s face had been replaced with an image from a shoot she did with Vogue for its June 2016 edition.

“They took her face from the Vogue cover she did years ago and edited it in,” Ruby Naldrett posted on X/Twitter.

AFP photo director Eric Baradat said the doctoring of the image had been done “in a very amateur-ish way”.

Princess Charlotte at the launch of the Christmas Baby Banks initiative. It looks like the same top she is wearing in the Mother’s Day image – but was that photo taken on the same day? Picture: Kensington Palace/YouTube

British Vogue cover of Princess Catherine from May 2016. Credit: Josh Olins/British Vogue

Monday’s Instagram post by Princess Catherine. Picture: Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/princeandprincessofwales

WHAT’S BEEN THE REACTION?

People have been losing their minds.

Journalist Omid Scobie said it was “becoming increasingly difficult for the public to believe a word (and now photo) they share,” while Daily Mirror Royal Editor Russell Myers described it as a “litany of errors”.

“It’s been hastily put together by a woman who isn’t back at work; she’s trying to put a nice photo out of her kids, but it’s unfortunately backfired spectacularly,” he told Sky News.

The photo issued by Kensington Palace of Catherine, Princess of Wales (42) with her children, Prince Louis (5), Prince George (10) and Princess Charlotte (8). Picture: Prince of Wales/Kensington Palace/Handout/Getty Images

WHY DOES IT MATTER?

The concern is that Princess Catherine’s health woes are worse than Kensington Palace has admitted.

Since having abdominal surgery in January, the Palace has insisted the Princess is on the road to recovery.
But her seclusion since Christmas Day, and the fact that Prince William has recently dropped out of a number of key events at the last minute, has prompted increased speculation about her health.

But even if there is no big crisis around the Princess’s health, commentators have been urging the royal family to release the original version of the image – simply because telling the truth is the right thing to do.

“If it’s just a small bit of harmless retouching gone wrong, nobody will care,” broadcaster Piers Morgan posted on X/Twitter. And if they don’t release it, he said, “the conspiracy theories they were trying to kill, will get way worse”.