Getty has flagged another photo of the British royal family, taken by the Princess of Wales, as digitally altered, following a recent controversy over a doctored photo of Kate Middleton. The flagged photo of Queen Elizabeth II and her grandchildren showed 19 alterations, leading to concerns about misinformation. The Princess of Wales' absence from public events has sparked conspiracy theories, including claims of a body double or clone, further fueled by the use of a doctored photo on social media.
Metadata from Kate Middleton's Mother's Day family photo revealed that it had been digitally altered multiple times before being published on official royal social media platforms. The timestamps in the photo data indicated that the image was first edited on March 8 and then altered again on March 9. Although it's unclear who exactly altered the image, Middleton issued an apology for the confusion surrounding the editing. The controversy emerged after eagle-eyed followers noticed the distorted image, leading to the Associated Press and other news agencies pulling the photo from their websites. Middleton has remained out of the public eye since December due to a planned abdominal surgery, and amid speculation about her health, a spokesperson for Kensington Palace confirmed that she is "doing well."