After Kate Middleton photo controversy, photo agency flags 2nd royal photo
For the second time in less than two weeks, a global photo agency has issued an editing notice on a royal family photo shared by Kate, the Princess of Wales.
Getty Images added an editor's note Tuesday on a photo that was taken by Kate in 2022 of the late Queen Elizabeth II and some of her great-grandchildren.
Last April, Kensington Palace shared the photo on the social media accounts of Kate and her husband Prince William to mark what would have been the queen's 97th birthday.
Credit for the photo was given to Kate.
In its editor's note Tuesday, Getty Images says the photo "has been digitally enhanced at source."
The palace has not commented on the addition of the editor's note to Kate's photo of the late queen.
The notice from the photo agency comes just over one week after multiple global news agencies, including Getty Images, retracted a photo of Kate with the three children she shares with William over concerns it was "manipulated."
In a statement to ABC News at the time, the AP said it had "retracted the image because at closer inspection, it appears that the source had manipulated the image in a way that did not meet AP's photo standards. The photo shows an inconsistency in the alignment of Princess Charlotte's left hand."
The photo was shared on William and Kate's social media accounts to mark Mother's Day in the U.K. Credit for the photo was given to William, and it was shared along with a message from Kate thanking people for their "continued support" as she recovers from abdominal surgery.
The day after the photo was retracted, Kate issued a public apology for any "confusion" caused by the photo.
"Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing," she said in a statement posted on social media. "I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother's Day."
The palace has not commented on the photo controversy.
Hany Farid, a computer science professor at the University of California, Berkeley, told ABC News his analysis of the photo of Kate with her children shows "minor manipulation," and no evidence it is an AI-generated photo.
"I think most likely it is either some bad photoshop to, for example, remove a stain on the sweater, or is the result of on-camera photo compositing that combines multiple photos together to get a photo where everyone is smiling," Farid said. "Either way, I think it is unlikely that this is anything more than a relatively minor photo manipulation."
Still, the retraction of the photo added to a growing credibility issue for the royal family.
Last week, Phil Chetwynd, global news director at Agence France-Presse, told BBC Radio that in light of the photo editing, he no longer considers Kensington Palace to be a trusted source.
"No, absolutely not," Chetwynd said. "Like with anything, when you're let down by a source, the bar is raised."
The photo was the first time Kate had been seen in an official capacity since December, when she joined the royal family for a Christmas Day church service.
In mid-January, the palace announced Kate had undergone a "planned abdominal surgery" and would be out of the public eye until after Easter.
