Royal expert shares tragic verdict on Kate Middleton – accusing palace of not protecting her

Kate Middleton has been cited for publishing the manipulated picture of her and her three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, on Mother’s Day.

News agencies decided to remove the image as it was proven to have been edited, and many were angry with the Princess of Wales, not only because of the picture but also because she and the palace have neither refused to comment on her health nor publish a new image that could end speculations about her well-being.

While some have criticized her recent decision, some days after the picture was published, several royal experts have come to her rescue, accusing not her but the palace and her husband of not doing enough.

The royal family has come under fire after the manipulated picture of Kate Middleton and her children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, was published on Mother’s Day on the Prince and Princess of Wales’ official Instagram account.

News agency director says Palace isn’t a trusted source after Kate Middleton picture blunder

It took a few hours before photography experts and social media users began analyzing the picture, finding several errors and examples of bad editing. Several news agencies, including the Associated Press and Getty, sent a “kill notice” (an advisory notice to remove or not use a specific photo).

Another news agency that used a “kill notice” was the well-renowned Agence France-Presse (AFP). Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Media Show, Phil Chetwynd, AFP’s global news director, said that Kensington Palace is no longer a trusted source.

“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,” he said, as reported by Deadline.

Chetwynd continued by revealing that several news agencies asked Kensington Palace Sunday if they could provide the original picture. However, according to him, the agencies did not receive a reply and the image was pulled.

Moreover, Chetwynd said kill notices are usually reserved for sources such as North Korea.

“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,” Chetwynd added.

He concluded, “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.”

Kate Middleton broke ‘golden rule’ with Mother’s Day picture, expert says

Kate Middleton received a lot of criticism, especially after she announced that she had edited and posted the picture herself.

However, Kensington Palace’s failure to comment on the picture incident—especially to post a newly picture of Kate to assure the public that she is fine—has made conspiracy theories even more intense. Conspiracies appeared already in February as no significant updates were given on the Princess of Wales, but now, they have escalated.

Meanwhile, the fact that Kate edited the picture herself might not be the worst thing. According to The Sun’s royal photographer Arthur Edwards, the Princess of Wales has learned a “tough and very public lesson” breaking the “golden rule.”

“It’s a golden rule that while you can crop a picture, you never, ever interfere with the image itself. Kate shouldn’t have done it, and she was right to put her hand up and admit to her mistake so quickly,” Edwards said, adding that social media have been overflowing with “disgusting bile and hateful comments about her.”