“Royal commentator” Dickie Arbiter was crying on Twitter on Wednesday about how people are still talking about the Princess of Wales’s janky Mother’s Day photo and the subsequent sh-tstorm. Arbiter tweeted: “Many of today’s UK morning papers are still squeezing the pips out of the Wales’ Mothering Sunday pic – you’ve had your ‘pound of flesh’ and some – time now to move on people.” Time to move on?? Really? That’s not what he would have said if the Sussexes had been tangled up in a similar situation. Besides that, the story hasn’t ended – things are still happening all around the Frankenphoto Fiasco. The global new director of Agence France-Presse was just interviewed and he ripped into Kensington Palace and compared them to North Korea.
One of the world’s biggest news agencies has claimed that Kensington Palace is no longer a “trusted source” after the furor over Kate Middleton‘s doctored Mother’s Day image. Phil Chetwynd, global news director of Agence France-Presse (AFP), told BBC Radio 4’s Media Show that the agency has reviewed its relationship with the Prince and Princess of Wales and will rigorously inspect future picture handouts from the royals.
Such a statement would have been unthinkable just a few days ago, but Chetwynd said the image raised “major issues” for AFP. He admitted that the agency should never have verified its use because it “violated our guidelines.” Middleton has apologized for “confusion” over the photo, which she attributed to an “experiment with editing.” Kensington Palace has not commented further and has declined to publish the original image, which was purportedly taken by Prince William this year.
Asked by Media Show presenter Ros Atkins if Kensington Palace is a trusted source, Chetwynd replied: “No, absolutely not. Like with anything, when you’re let down by a source the bar is raised … We sent out notes to all our teams at the moment to be absolutely super more vigilant about the content coming across our desk — even from what we would call trusted sources.”
Chetwynd revealed that the major news agencies, including Associated Press and Reuters, spoke before issuing notices to “kill” the picture on Sunday. He said Kensington Palace was asked if it would provide the original, but the agencies did not receive a reply and the image was pulled.
Chetwynd said it is unusual for media agencies to demand that photos be taken out of circulation. “To kill something on the basis of manipulation [is rare. We do it] once a year maybe, I hope less. The previous kills we’ve had have been from the North Korean news agency or the Iranian news agency,” he explained.
Chetwynd added: “One thing that’s really important is you cannot be distorting reality for the public. There’s a question of trust. And the big issue here is one of trust, and the lack of trust and the falling trust of the general public in institutions generally and in the media. And so it’s extremely important that a photo does represent broadly the reality that it’s seen in.”
Something which I want to reemphasize, which has gotten somewhat lost in the days-long fiasco: “He said Kensington Palace was asked if it would provide the original, but the agencies did not receive a reply and the image was pulled.” I’ve seen many royalists claim that international media outlets are “bullying” poor Kate and that how was she to know that she bungled the photo-editing so badly. KP knew on Sunday, as soon as Reuters, AP, AFP and Getty got in touch with them and began pressing them for an edited copy, that they had f–ked up. They even had a chance to get ahead of it or simply release the “original.” Instead, they froze in panic and refused to speak to these news agencies. What an unprofessional way to do business.
As for everything else Phil Chetwynd says… the comparison to North Korea, the “absolutely not” to whether KP is a trusted source, the promise to examine everything coming out of the palace… this sh-t is getting good. I hope these agencies, like CNN, go back into the archives and examine those as well. I’m adding more KP-released photos in this post to highlight!
Photos courtesy of Kensington Palace.
-
- Peter Phillips and his wife Autumn Phillips arrive for Gold Cup day, The Festival at Cheltenham Racecourse 2019, Cheltenham Glos,Image: 535596650, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: Jules Annan / Avalon
-
- London, UNITED KINGDOM – Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge departs after delivering her keynote speech at an event hosted by the Forward Trust to launch the charity’s “Taking Action On Addiction” campaign. Pictured: Catherine, The Duchess of Cambridge BACKGRID USA 19 OCTOBER 2021 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
My mouth literally dropped when they said they’ve only done this with photos coming out of North Korea and Iran. Sure-nothing to see here, people. Move along. Ha!
That’s so remarkable to me that William has messed up so badly IN ONE WEEK that he now has the credibility of North Korea and Iran. Wow, just wow.
How’s your first few weeks going, Mr. New Private Secretary With The Prestigious Diplomatic Background?
I have been bangning on about this for days now!
The future HoS now has the same level of credibility as North Korea!!!!
I cannot stress enough how bad this is, not just for William but also for the British monarchy and by extension for the UK.
After Brexit the only dignity and reputation we had left was through the Queen and by extension the monarchy. Now wheels have fallen off everything. OMG race to the bottom, uh?
The fact that press releases coming from PettyWilly have the same reputation of those coming out of N. Korea and Iran speaks volumes!
How much are other European royalty cringing at this – the behaviour of their “cousins” in the UK? How many of them are taking deep object lessons from it?
These are the questions I find myself asking this morning.
Well we now know what the Netherlands thinks of this!
King Willem Alexander of the Netherlands made a joke that he doesn’t photoshop his pictures at an engagement with young children.
@Where’sMyTiara
That is so shady of him, lol. I guess that William and Kate aren’t particularly well-liked among their European peers.
I disagree. I think this is actually good for the UK – our press has finally grown a backbone & is questioning all the unmitigated drivel the monarchy have expected us/them to swallow for centuries.
Vive la Republique 😀
I doubt they have much affection or respect. Look at all the royals from across Europe that came to Constantine’s funeral and Willie boy couldn’t;t get out of bed in the same city!
I get the feeling that the BRF has lorded it, literally, over the other royals based on past laurels and powers, and that ship has sunk.
I can’t respond to the downthread comment, but I howled laughing that the Dutch king made a joke about photoshopping.
If that has legs, though, it makes me think that KP would find some way to dig up and publish dirt on him/his family. (My money would be on the oldest daughter.) We got Fred of Denmark’s dish after KP was made to look bad for no-showing the Danish coming-of-age party. (Which was a little silly, as the other royals there had either a fairly close family or personal relationship with the birthday boy. It wasn’t like some events where all the houses get an invitation.)
I love this so much for them!
Oooooohhhhhhh me too!😁😁😁
What a burn!!! 🔥🔥🔥
This is NOT going away – nor should it.
I know! I was listening to this programme live on Radio 4 as I drove home last night & when he said that I absolutely squawked with glee 😀 This is BIG news in the UK – much bigger than any thing re the monarchy in the past few decades. Hahahaha.
That just indicates how credulous they’ve been. I’m sure this isn’t the first time a “Western” source has tried to pass off edited/faked pictures.
Yeah, there’s no question (though I really wish they would say it plainly) based on what he is saying (standard is photo “broadly represents reality of what is seen in it”), this isn’t about photoshopping or changing clothing color, they have reason to believe that this “moment” did not occur at all.
Correct. It’s painfully obvious that this wasn’t some minor tweaking in Photoshop. They fundamentally changed a photo so much it was a lie and they literally can’t produce an original.
I guess Bill thinks the press is just as stupid as he thinks the plebes are.
Yes! I wish they’d spell this out more. It’s not as though KP has any credibility left and it would really help to shut down the folks saying “poor Kate, she just wanted to make her kids look good”. Those with critical thinking skills can ascertain what it means for this photo to be compared to those coming out of the governments of the countries mentioned…this photo was folklore, just say it!!!
And Misan immediately releasing his unedited pic is just… *chef’s kiss*
Followed by a “Now you, KP”… so many staffers with their heads in the toilets after yesterday.
More drama to come, undoubtedly, as they find more photos.
By my count, since Kate disappeared there have now been four attempts to provide proof of life photos “to get the peasants to shut up about it”, and all four have been demonstrably fake.
1. Around the time Kate was supposed to be released from the London Clinic that it looks like she was never at to begin with, they had a photo of her supposedly getting into a car, that turned out to be doctored from a previous photo taken some years prior. I think they’ve mostly managed to scrub that one off the internet. Netizens fell upon this within minutes. Combined with the Twig and the PA photo, skepticism was heightened.
2. The Carole/Kate Audi shot. So many things wrong with the photo, including the fact that it appears an RPO Kate clone is sitting next to Carole. Widely panned as inauthentic.
3. Mothering Sunday Mosaic: the one that caused the Kill Notice. This is *still* producing shockwaves in media circles… of a “How very dare they fake a photo” nature.
4. Commonwealth Day meets the Somme Anniversary, in a car: Kate was pieced into that photo of William in the car, and Netizens have spotted similarities to what she wore at the Somme service. William may also have been pieced in or altered. One of many notes made, was William appeared to have a handkerchief in his left breast pocket in the car, and not when he got out. The ties were also similar in color but different in design.
It’s bad enough now that world press – not public, the PRESS – are starting to demand a proof of life “video” of Kate.
That KP hasn’t jumped on that idea already to cool everything down and get the heat off of themselves, tells you that they probably can’t. Because she’s in no fit state to be seen.
Furthermore it just makes speculation stronger that something terrible, possibly criminal, happened to Kate and the more the palaces fail to step up and come clean, and try to bury this, the stronger and more relentless the spotlight is going to be. The fallout will be extreme when sunlight finally hits this whole mess.
The best part of Misan’s response was him producing an original source photo that is even BETTER than the photo that was released.
I loved the black and white photo but the original color photo is astoundingly beautiful.
What angers me is that as of this morning the “Missan also altered the H&M pregnancy photo” story is still being circulated on news outlets. I saw two different articles on Apple News this morning with no correction.
Misan Harriman asked Vicky Ward et al for a retraction. What we got was changed stories without indication they were correcting a prior story, yet still running under the same provocative headlines about “H&M did it too” so stop picking on Fakey Katey.
North Korea and Iran levels of credibility?! Holy bleep! Merci AFP
It’s been a while since i laughed this hard reading an article that had to do with the royals. This man is appalled 😂😂
Frankenphoto? That’s new. William and Kate are getting a wake up call that as future king and queen they will not be coddled but the international media.
Can someone assist, jk et al perhaps? Kate is the queen of photoshop – the way Jackson photoshops her is off the charts imo and actually looks a bit amateur in its own way. Often she looks like she’s been painted or her image is on canvas, while all around her is as it should be. Isn’t there one at trooping – she’s in green, and her face just looks UNREAL. A lot of the time she has fewer wrinkles than her kids have. But this is OK. It’s the doctoring of an image – the replacement of a feature by another one lifted from elsewhere that is the issue? Is this the crux of it? Thanks in advance.
I think these photo agencies draw a line between the cosmetic retouching that we’re used to seeing on royal photos and falsifying a picture outright.
It’s one thing to remove wrinkles or zits or flyaway hairs, but all of the editing hallmarks on the Mothers Day photo indicate that it’s a composite image made of several other sources. That’s why AFP and the others are concerned that it doesn’t show the truth. Without Kensington Palace producing the original(s), which they have refused to do, there is no way of knowing whether all four subjects were in the frame together, when the originals were taken, where they were taken, whether the image originally included someone else that has had their head replaced with Kate’s…
First, I think the pictures weren’t being scrutinized that much to identify the changes, but also that tweaking the appearance of someone without putting their identity in doubt is going to be treated differently than assembling an image of an event that did not occur.
In my book the kill order by three different agencies for a pic that was touted being taken by peggers last week makes more of the fact that PeggySue had a fake image put out to cover for no KKKATE and he lied. Why are they trying so hard to give proof of life? What don’t they want us to know? What did peggers do?
I think the big issue here for the photo agencies is that the picture was doctored in such a way that they can’t determine if Kate was even in that picture. Her face is certainly lifted from another image and not from last week. so if the palace is releasing this picture to say, look how happy and healthy she is, and it turns out she’s not even in the picture, the photo agencies are going to have a big problem with that.
My guess is going forward even mild photoshopping is going to come under fire for the Waleses.
I dont think this is just about the picture – after there was a similar fail of the xmas picture where one of the kids ( George I think ) had a missing finger and Louis had six fingers & there were no issues.
This is more to do with the fact that the picture was put out there to manipulate and deceive the public that indeed all is well with the Waleses household & expect both the local & international press to be the conveyor of those untruths.
The big issue for international news agencies is they could not confirm that a news image submitted by another party (the palace) adhered to agency code of ethics of allowable edits “limited to those minimally necessary for clear and accurate reproduction and that restore the authentic nature of the photograph.” (see “Telling the Story: Standards: Visuals” Photos” at http://www.ap.org). The palace-submitted news image showed clear signs of alteration, and the palace did not supply the original, unaltered image; therefore it was impossible for agencies to assure photo authenticity.
This is more serious than smoothing out wrinkles and other things done to make the subject look better. That sort of thing will not have a professional news agency referencing Iran and North Korea. The Mother’s Day photo was completely cobbled together. What is portrayed in the photo did not happen, or at the very least did not happen all at the same time or day. That is what resulted in a kill shot.
Thank you, everyone, for your insights. So it’s more the fact that the event didn’t happen than the fact that it’s made to look nice. In that way not only is it a deception in and of itself but, as jemmy says, a conscious deception to mislead the viewer, ie 1) this was a cobble together of people and places that didn’t exist at that moment to 2) deceive the public into thinking all is OK. In this case, her back catalogue of family photos is being scrutinised to see if she did similar – put in people who weren’t there. God, that’s embarrassing for her and the family – it makes her look like a fraud, and also questions their complicity by association. She’s really in it. This is what I think will affect her going forwards – that she is a sham. Thank you, again. Sparrow.
sid, if the picture of Ma Mids and Bone Idle in the car was taken at one location, cropped out and then placed into the location they wanted, I think that would be a problem, too. Again, it’s supposed to support a story that she is one place, when she was actually in another.
I hate to refer to Tina Brown, but it’s what she said. Pictures tell stories. KP has not made any statements about Kate’s health and recovery. Issuing this photo was a statement – it doesn’t matter that it was made in picture form – the official KP statement about Kate’s health was that Kate is happy and healthy, looks 8 years younger and is surrounded by her jubilant children, who don’t seem to have been affected by their mother’s serious illness.
@Sparrow, just to provide more context, Pete Souza was the WH photographer under biden and posts a lot on social media (he’s fairly snarky/shady.) He has a post up with a picture of George meeting Obama in his bathroom and explains the difference between “photoshopping” and “altering” – basically saying its acceptable in terms of NEWS photography (i.e. what the news organizations will accept) to adjust the color balance, adjust the shadows and highlights, things like that. And its normal to “process” photos through Photoshopped but that does not mean you are altering the picture or that the picture is fake.
what you cannot do by these organizations’ standards (AP, AFP etc) is you cannot remove, add, or change elements, you cannot combine multiple pictures to make one, etc.
Now obviously those organizations are going to have different standards than a fashion magazine for example, or what people do on IG. But this photo was sent out to the news agencies as an update so it was under that heightened level of scrutiny.
Thanks, Becks1, that’s brilliant. What a can of worms. If they find her previous photos are doctored, does this mean she’s had help to do it? Is it beyond her skill set? It seems like something she’d have to collaborate on with a professional to me. I assumed that she had nothing to do with this when it got to the level of people saying the head’s been lifted in etc. It seems beyond her ability. I can see her doing a bit of brushing up, but not that stuff.
Becks1 and anyone else who picks this up. Just to qualify re whether this amount of doctoring needs assistance. My understanding came to be: she never sat for this picture, she never had anything to do with it, someone was instructed to cobble together a healthy image, that someone had the skills to do this kind of thing. She then signed it off. He pretended he took the photograph. It was found out. She took the blame, pretending she’d photoshopped it a bit. Maybe it’s quite simple to mock up this stuff and I’m underestimating her; it seems complicated to me.
@Becks1 – small correction; think you mean Souza was Obama’s photographer (and George was in his bathROBE, not room)! Slightly OT, but the other interesting thing about that very cute photo of Obama and George, widely distributed at the time, is the big green plant in the background, visible between Obama and George’s faces. Some versions of the photo are cropped, but in the original, you can clearly see the bottom section of the painting on the wall behind the plant. That’s the infamous “Page” painting that Will and Kate gave pride of place in their living room. They left it there for the Obamas’ visit, but put the plant in front to hide the nameplate, because apparently someone thought you couldn’t tell the painting was racist without seeing the title.
And, good explanation of what is and isn’t acceptable for serious news organizations with respect to editing photos.
I also didn’t realise that the press agencies gave KP a chance to provide the original photo. This is even worse than I thought. If Lee Thompson wants to save his career, there’s no way he’s staying at KP after this year. Plus, that photo in the limo looks fake as hell.
Also, that the news agencies conferred with each other before issuing the kill order. Wow.
Actually I think it’s cool the agencies conferred. They recognize the importance of making that kind of statement. See, when it’s going to have global attention it’s kind of nice to get a second opinion/reality check rather than just blarbing out your views to the world (c.f. El Hombre Naranja, the South African, et al.).
I’d think that all the news agencies are concerned about their perceived credibility in the age of Fake News. They take their jobs seriously! This incident has Willnot’s fingerprints all over it since, after all isn’t he the big boss at KP? I bet that he was behind this mess. So glad it was caught and this has now had worldwide exposure. What a snake!
So a week or two is too long to talk about a botched photo from KP with Kate still missing and PW still acting wonky? How hard did he cry when false stories about H&M went on for years?
Thank you! Not so nice when KP is the piñata? Oh well! And they still want to play it off like this isn’t serious when they went after Meghan for the most ridiculous things! Karma is a boomerang.
Yeah, I poked around in some of the old message boards yesterday, and they seemed to have settled onto this line of reasoning. Very strange. The RF supporters bleat on and on about how important W/K are, but now that the spotlight is on them and they look insane and incompetent, they all want this to go away. It’s nuts.
Remind me who made who cry in 2018 again??
Of course they can not be trusted because they have been selling fantasy to people and refuse to accept reality of time. Someone needs to fast forward 2024 to them since they are still stuck on 1924
NY Post today: “Kate Middleton officially hits rock bottom”
Epic.
Oh, I think she just hit a rocky shelf – there’s more to go before we get to the bottom.
😂😂😂
LOL! Word.
Splendacious.
I like the fact that emphasizes manipulation and distorting reality. it defeats the argument that everyone touches up their photos. This wasn’t about photoshopping out a wrinkle or something. This was about presenting an image to the public as reality that was actually very far from reality.
north korea and Iran indeed. That’s your propaganda machine at work KP. That’s who you are linked with.
Exactly. There is also a big difference between a social media influencer using too much facetune and the royal family of an entire country creating a fictional image that includes the future head of state.
100% correct. This what the die hard royalists fail to understand & instead down play the whole issue as just being a picture that was edited.
Exactly. There is a difference between posting a picture on social media and sending a photo to NEWS AGENCIES.
Ouch. Take that mister global stateman. You’re on the same level as Iran and North Korea 🤣
Well, he never said what KIND of global statesman he wanted to be. Just that he wanted to be one.
Exactly! This image was constructed to deceive the public!!!!!! The taxpayer funded future Head of State of the UK intended to deceive the public. The sheer magnitude of this situation is not being stressed enough in the media IMO. What William and his office did has constitutional reverberations – because what does it mean when a future HoS has no qualms about deceiving his people? It show that William is utterly unfit for the office is going to hold.
The fact that both the British media and political establishment won’t talk about this is astonishing to me.
And don’t forget the head of the Church as well! Even if William could make some kind of maze-like argument that KP lied to protect the bigger interests of the UK, you could never suggest that it befits the country’s spiritual leader.
We have been saying for ages that they act like NK with their propaganda and while KP is getting rightly burned, the British media blindly accepted this photo and let it go to print because they never question these clowns. There needs to be a serious discussion about the British media organizations that put this photo out in public when they were so adamant they couldn’t publish the TMZ photo.
This thing just keeps snowballing. It’s delicious.
This is why the stop bullying Kate about the picture bothers me. It’s essentially trying to silence a public outcry over a tax-funded institution lying to its people on a North Korean level. No one should stop talking about that. It’s not even about Kate really. It’s beyond just Kate. This is not a bullying issue. It’s about manipulation and lies from the palace regardless of who edited the fake photo.
Exactly this. It’s not about Kate, it’s about the RF making up a total lie.
Oh great. The person slated to be my next head of state runs a workplace that is as trustworthy as North Korea? Yup, #abolishthemonarchy
“The previous kills we’ve had have been from the North Korean news agency or the Iranian news agency,”
Monarchies are dictatorships so this checks.
Agreed.
That photo of them with bikes: look how the treeline perfectly encircles his head.
I look forward to CNN’s analysis.
Look at her hand on his waist!!!!
Look where her shoulder touches him. The navy fabric is on\off the white fabric.
Photos like these are why William thought he would get away with it. No one objected before.
Wow! To compare the future king of England’s integrity and trustworthiness to N. Korea and Iran is incredibly damning and damaging to the entire institution. If William can’t be trusted now, when he’s the heir, how are people supposed to trust him when he’s king? And let’s not forget that this is hardly the first time that KP, William and Kate have been caught lying. They lie way more than they admit the truth. And you know that the Sussex Squad and others will remind the public of this debacle for years and years to come, so what the hell were they thinking?!
Lort. I snooped through the UK tabloids. They are so desperate for M and H coverage that the DM ran an article about M still wearing neutral colors. Lol. Every major new outlet needs to specifically explain that the Mother’s Day pic wasn’t subjected to minor photo editing. KP, with William taking credit for the original, cut and pasted multiple images together, including images that were possibly copyrighted by outside sources. An image featuring the future king was completely faked. Even the world press is being respectful towards whatever is medically/mentally wrong with Keen and not reporting details, but the world press isn’t going to participate in subterfuge to protect Will-not whilest screaming about Meghan wearing beige.
Must admit I did not have AFP equating Kensington Palace with North Korea and Iran on my Thursday morning bingo card. But if the shoe fits …
Not North Korea!!! Ooooh! KP is gonna be salty over that one then again, they will get their lackeys in the media to cover it up you know, North Korea style.
In that bicycle photo, William 💯 looks photoshopped in.
That caught my eye also..
The “William is photoshopped in” discussion was pretty heavy around one of the earlier family photos before Louis was born. I think it is the same one that seems to have floating baby Charlotte.
They should check that one too.
Oh, dear God, don’t tell me. William was interviewed and asked how it felt to have a brand new baby and he replied rather glibly, “I already have a child.”
Holy cow. I went back and looked at the bicycle photo again, @LuckyCharm, and you’re right. If you look at the top of his head, you can see that all of the shrubbery in the far background is one height, and then the part behind his head has been raised and is egg-shaped to provide contrast for his bald pate that would otherwise blend into the sky. Great catch!
Also, they’ve added light contrast along the edges of his shoulders and where his leg “meets” Kate’s, someone got lazy and didn’t remove the extra light denim color that extends beyond where his outer leg line would be.
At least whoever photoshopped this one is marginally more skilled than the Mothering Day photo culprit.
Photoshopped in – to suggest a togetherness that they clearly no longer have
Well better late than never to learn KP can’t be a trusted source. It only took one f**ked up photo of Can’t to realize what we have known for quite awhile. I do like the comparison to North Korea. Wake up Peg you absolutely suck at PR.
Squeezing the pips! Ha, sorry Dickie! They’re going to squish this on the reamer and twist it till it bleeds!
“The previous kills we’ve had have been from the North Korean news agency or the Iranian news agency”
This is hysterical 😂😂😂
His comments are just so important because we have so little trust in institutions these days. We have to hold the line on truth (or the closest we can get to truth) in our news outlets. With AI generated content flooding the internet we have to know there are some sources of information that are real. With so many elections around the world this year, disinformation is going to be a massive issue. Somehow the Palace doesn’t understand that. Thank goodness AFP and other global news wires are trying their best to keep altered photos and disinformation at bay. It’s a massive job.
Exactly, and initially they all ran with it so this is a hit to their credibility too. They have to come back strong against manipulation like this.
Wht if this is a domestic violence situation? What if William damaged her face so badly she needed surgery? It would explain everything, particularly the hesitation around showing her face and body up close and clearly right now. I used to work for a DV organization and have seen women needing to replace entire sets of teeth and needing many types of facial reconstructions due to beatings. I hope the real story is less gruesome but these PR blunders are making it clear she is not comfortable being seen right now.
This is where I landed after the grainy photo with Carole. That she’s in the middle of extensive facial reconstruction work and when she comes back, her slightly different look will be blamed on illness and she’ll semi retire and/or they will divorce.
Exactly. And now they’re saying even her closest staff haven’t seen her? I know people go on about her vanity but I remember vividly how she posed hours after giving birth to George and, even though she had the blowout and makeup, didn’t hide her distended (completely normal post-birth) abdomen. And it was seen as pretty radical, refreshing and vanity-free at the time. It just seems like she wouldn’t be in hiding if it were something easily explained.
I would love to be totally wrong but I’ve been saying DV from the beginning of all of this. We may not know what medical issues Kate has or where she is but we do know the behavior of William, Charles, and the Middletons has been so different from the norm and so bizarre that none of it can be explained by a medical condition/planned abdominal surgery.
This is what I have been saying since the first I heard about the ‘surgery’. As a DV survivor myself, this is the only logical explanation.
I hereby dub WanK – MaryKate& ShellyBill. (Does Will drink sherry?)
Well, well, well! For 🍆and 🦴 this has so far been the year of the boomerang, leopards eating faces, consequences, Streisand effect, karma bus-bulldozer- steamroller and comeuppance all combined. It’s all spilling over to the royal family and this is only the beginning. I hope for a domino effect on the British press.
Camilla and all her media friends next!
Kensington Palace ranks as credible as the daily fail now, maybe that invisible contract wasn’t such a good idea🤷🏻♀️
I think KP has less credibility than the fail.
That header photo is absolutely terrifying, I leggit fear for my safety just looking at it for too long.
It’s not just the photos. They can’t trust anything said by the palace sources either. They should scrutinize everything – who the sources are, can they back Up their claims, especially when attributing anything to the Sussexes.
Why is no one talking about the national impacts? The whole UK’s credibility is going down the toilet & the whole government appears asleep at the wheel.
That is what I’, wondering as well. This is their future HoS having no problem with deceiving the public.
It’s even weirder since their subjects are still whining about leaving poor Kate alone. Are they going to wake up to the fact that they are co-signing looking like sheep to an idiot of an heir, on the world stage?
I would expect a stampede to Republic’s doorstep, now they are for sure the winners in this farce.
North Korea and Iran, wow. This took me back decades ago when the People’s Republic of China aka Red China published a bit of photo propaganda that showed China’s 73 year old leader, Mao Tse Tung, swimming in the Yangtze river. It was a crude and laughable act of political theater and now years later the BRF share a thing or two with North Korea and Iran, smh.
Are we really still supposed to believe Kate sat down at her computer and spent hours digitally manipulating multiple images together to make this photo? They keep saying oh everyone does it – we do it on our phones !!! This was not done on a phone.
This has gone beyond KP & monarchy impacts. It is a national issue & impacts the credibility & stability of the whole government. Why has the government not stepped in to resolve this? The Head of State has become a liability for the country. The monarchy has been a liability for awhile.
Supposedly, this is the year when all of the bad stuff comes to light. The year is off to a good start.
I suggest the UK media look at what they’re doing. They need to stop playing that photo as a minor issue. If they think their credibility will not be scrutinized more by world media, I think they’re wrong. The bm needs to decide how they’re going forward. Business as usual isn’t going to cut it.
So maybe we’ll learn that Kate Middleton is an Ai generated image and has never existed at all?
This has just gone to the beyond, I am truly flummoxed by the lack of response from KP or BP – to clarify anything – Being compared to Iran and N Korea as an “untrustworthy source” by reputable news agencies is a throw down of epic proportion. One would think they would have SOME meaningful response issued. The truth comes to mind! It doesn’t have to be in depth – just make sense!
In a normal situation, they could and would. But what could they possibly say that would have a shred of dignity while also being true? It’s smart for them to STFU now.
Oh dickie, do sit down and STFU. Your day is gone, in fact the rota as a whole need to look for new subjects because the Windsors are finished. Hopefully the UK taxpayers are waking up to the fact that they have been funding an illusion for donkeys years! The worldwide media is waking up to the fact that they can’t be trusted and lie as easily as they breath. Maybe go back to the false portrayal of the late king and queen mother. Now the Queen mother was supposedly so brave, for staying in London during the war and the king gave a speech about the terrors of the Nazi party, but go look, there is a picture of the Queen mother, the king, princess Margaret and prince’s Elizabeth, all stood on the Palace lawn, giving the Nazi salute! That should prove without a doubt that they are as trustworthy as last weeks pork chop! Harry led the way, now the rest need to go
Haha! I hope you are enjoying the hell out of this, Mary Pester!
I wonder if the problem was that the staff at KP couldn’t respond to the request for the original in a timely manner because William was unavailable/unreachable.
How would William be unreachable? He is surrounded by staff of some sort 24/7.
Drunk, passed out, holed up somewhere with a mistress… he has security with him 24/7 but they’re not going to force him to answer his phone.
Now that they have been compared to North Korea and Iran, I expect that we’ll get something from BP that starts to rein in William and to smooth out this entire debacle.
I have no doubt Charles and Camilla have had a bit of fun letting William take all this heat but now it’s affecting the reputation of the monarchy and Charles’s reign. So clean up on aisle 9 will probably commence in the next few days.
Agreed. Surely it’s gone way too far for Charles and even Camilla to think it’s a good idea to keep taking a backseat on this! Either he really, really hates William for something he did or Charles is too ill to do anything.
I agree with Shawna and Betty. I’m aghast that Charles hasn’t issued a statement of some sort. Perhaps that would require some sort of disclosure about Kate, and Charles doesn’t want to overstep or do anything further to hurt HER. Or, worse – is Charles more ill than anyone knows?
I vote for “really hates William for something he did”.
Ticking off the international press is not the way to be a “global statesman”, Willy. KP is a literal clown show. All they had to do was issue a statement for Mothering Sunday from Kate: “Wishing you a happy Mothering Sunday. I am thankful this year for the doctors and nurses who took such great care of me during my recent hospitalization and for the wonderful and supportive messages from each of you. -C.” Or if they wanted to include a picture with kids and Kate couldn’t/wouldn’t take a new picture, use a throwback and own it: “This is one of my favorite family photos. I hope you enjoy it as well. Happy Mothering Sunday. -C.”
Instead, someone (Willy, Kate, staffers) decided to be clever (never a good idea with the KP crew) and thought “we’ll cobble something together and the peasants will eat it up.” But now they’re called an “uncredible source” and mentioned in the same breath as Iran and North Korea. Awesome job, Bill!
Paddington – they’d never employ you at KP – you’re way too good!
@liz, I think that’s the sweetest thing anyone has said to me..☺️ “Not employable by KP” is going on my resume!
Here’s a very clear explanation from the Associated Press:
“AP’s editorial standards state that images must be accurate. AP does not use altered or digitally manipulated images.
“AP’s news values and principles explain that minor photo editing, including cropping and toning and color adjustments, are acceptable when necessary for clear and accurate reproduction and should maintain the authentic nature of the photograph.
“Changes in density, contrast, color and saturation levels that substantially alter the original scene are not acceptable. Backgrounds should not be digitally blurred or eliminated by burning down or by aggressive toning. The removal of ‘red eye’ from photographs is not permissible.”
So not even removing red eye is acceptable. I imagine the standards are similar for other news organizations.
I agree with everyone that pointed out the reason for the kill notice. It wasn’t bad photoshop. The photo was a lie to promote a lie. But I also feel that the news agencies were already concerned about the validity of the ma and Kate car photo and the reason for it. It was to show proof of life but was obviously doctored. They let that go with reluctance because it was supposedly a “pap” photo and unofficial. The Mother’s Day photo was palace officially approved and a blatant lie. That was the final straw for the agencies.
Spot on.
I believe AP was the first to announce the kill order and the others followed suit quickly after. They can’t deny that was already Very damaging to the monarchy.
Pete Souza, who was Obama’s WH photographer is calling out bluntly Ks photo for what it really is: FAKE. And they still are not able to provide the original which proves it even more so. They’re so arrogant that they think the public is stupid but they’re the ones looking beyond stupid.
It pisses me off that ABC news is still quoting unnamed “experts” and that the changes to the photo seem minor. I think they had that language since Sunday night when the first kill notice came out. So inaccurate! I wrote a note to the editor but I’m sure no one will read it.
Glad to see this site has gotten its spine back. To hear it’s writers parrot the Palace speal about abdominal surgery and car rides with Mum, can only lead one to two possible conclusions, either this site was threatened with legal action (and many others too, im sure) by the Palace if they keep encouraging “conspiracy” theories, OR they were paid to cease all talk of “conspiracy” theories. I’m not sure which is better than the other
Are you sure you’re in the right place?
Oh honey I’m POSITIVE
It’s so interesting to see how even the pro-BRF elements of the British press are now turning on the Waleses. About time too.
Also, Popbitch (UK gossip blog, normally pretty reliable) has said this today: “The Photoshop fiasco has shown the serious shortcomings of the modern relationship between the monarchy and the media. And if the public ever do get wind of just how much the Royals have been holding back from them these last few years, then they might properly be screwed.” This isn’t the first time I’ve seen hints that some of the press know more than they’re letting in about what the BRF has been getting up to. I just wish they’d spill the beans.
That gold gown she wore was so unattractive
I, for one, am anxiously awaiting the tell all that we know Louis will write in the future.
Kensington Palace – Not a Trusted Source? Gee whiz, how did THAT happen. Sigh. While they certainly have it coming, if the Princess is on medical leave, she’s entitled to some privacy, no matter how bungled the messaging, Besides, Easter Sunday is in two weeks, March 31st. Don’t like that the tabs and social media have been hounding her for weeks with wild, speculation & runamuck conspiracy theories to harrass her into telingl all. They’ve pulled similar tactics (baseless stories from 25 progressively dumber angles) to smoke out a response.
Yet the hilarious idea that the UK tabloids, right wing media (whether print, TV, online) is in any way a “trusted source”of Royal news seems almost whimsical in light of the last 7-8 years. The tabloid media (regardless of format or nation) simply Make Shit up, then distorts and/flip that narrative to eek out more stories and clicks.
As to the Photoshopping, that very sweet photo of the Queen on a sofa surrounded by her English-based great-grandkids was taken by Kate. I recall reading that this pic was altered so each kiddo was facing front, eyes open, hair not mused. That seemed sensible to me and fair to those children in a photo of historic nature. Not aware on anyone complained then.