Kate Middleton's Family Snap With The Queen Resurfaces With More Photoshop Drama

The fallout from Catherine, Princess of Wales' U.K. Mother's Day portrait is ongoing. Although Kate confessed to editing the suspicious portrait a day later, and media entities had already stopped showing it, the situation caused people to question the veracity of royal-released photos. On one hand, outlets are likely to worry about a similar situation with a future photo. On the other hand, Kate's light edits to the photo — including misaligned floor tiles beneath the family and some blurred spots — have catalyzed people to look back at the princess' past contributions and examine them for worrisome details. 

In particular, individuals have turned their attention to a photo that Kate posted on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) on April 21, 2023. This picture included the late Queen Elizabeth accompanied by most of her great-grandchildren. In addition to eight great-grandkids, two grandchildren — Lady Louis and James, Earl of Wessex -– were also in the photo.  Posting on X, one user delineated multiple anomalies involving seemingly altered clothing and the sofa on which the queen was sitting. In addition, this individual believed that Prince Louis might have been added to the shot during the editing process. "Did the late Queen ever pose with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren? Seems like no," the user theorized. This isn't the first time this specific photo hasn't held up to a thorough analysis.

A day after Catherine, Princess of Wales' birthday homage to the late Queen Elizabeth appeared, accusations of editing appeared in the comments. Some believed the queen was added in afterward, while someone else brought up ethical considerations writing: "It's one thing to photoshop an image just for you own personal pleasure and benefit. But it's another thing to present an altered image of the previous head of state as a historical record."

Although these concerns did not seem to gain much traction in 2023, the photo now carries a reader-created warning about its legitimacy on X. The warning links out to a piece from The Guardian and reads in part: "This image appears to have been digitally altered to give the impression that everyone within it was present at the same time."

Unfortunately, the drama has led to even more conspiracy theories involving Kate as she continues to take time off to recover from her January abdominal surgery. Sadly, it's possible that the motivation for fixing this particular photo in post could have been the queen's declining health since it was taken the summer before her death in September 2022. The Wales family's 2023 Christmas photo also contained some dubious elements. While the holiday photo was brutally mocked on "Saturday Night Live," there weren't any serious repercussions. However, a source did divulge to Us Weekly that Kate and William, Prince of Wales "were as shocked as everyone else" by the situation.