Kate Middleton photo scandal shows Britain’s royals are flailing in the digital age

LONDON — Britain’s royal family are learning the hard way about navigating the AI-driven world of deepfakes.

Kate Middleton, wife of the heir to the British throne Prince William, was forced to publicly apologize Monday for the clumsy editing of a family photograph she released over the weekend.

Ironically, the Mother’s Day snap had been released — in part — to quell a surge of online conspiracy theories about the whereabouts and wellbeing of Kate, who is yet to make a public appearance after spending two weeks in hospital in January for an unspecified medical condition.

But the move backfired spectacularly when online commentators immediately spotted the image of the princess and her children had been doctored prior to release. International picture agencies refused to use the photo after confirming the image had been manipulated.

The subsequent furor only added fuel to the fire for the online conspiracists — and sent trust in the British establishment plummeting even lower.

“In today’s information environment, any manipulation of an image, even relatively minor edits done with no intention to mislead, can raise suspicions,” said Chris Morris, chief executive of the London-based fact-checking charity Full Fact. 

“The rapid spread of image manipulation tools has changed the rules of the game. Conspiracy theories thrive in information vacuums, so if you want to be trusted, you have to be transparent.”

Anatomy of a photo

Suspicions about the photo began to surface on social media almost immediately after it was released by Kensington Palace on Sunday morning. 

The most obvious photo-editing error appeared to be the inconsistencies in the sleeve of Middleton’s daughter Charlotte, social media users pointed out. Other X (formerly Twitter) users pointed to various background details they deemed suspicious as further indications the photograph was not fully authentic. 

The wild online speculation which then flowed ranged across the spectrum — from the suggestion the photo had been taken on a Google Pixel 8 phone, which automatically selects and merges the most flattering pictures, to claims that Kate’s head had been supplanted onto someone else’s body to hide her supposedly mysterious absence. 

Experts said it was unclear exactly what had happened. Middleton’s statement Monday said only that “like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” and apologized for the “confusion.”

“It’s all but impossible to say what tools have been used — it could be photoshop style tools, which incorporate elements of AI and generative AI, or something else. Currently the technology doesn’t allow you to trace what tools have been used,” says Hannah Perry, lead digital researcher at the London-based think tank Demos.

Trusted sources

The royal family’s latest PR disaster stems from a growing trend within the U.K. establishment — both among the royal family, but also senior politicians — to maintain tight control over their public images, either by taking their own photos or by employing private photographers to release only carefully-sanctioned images to the public.

In the past, the U.K. royals would frequently bring in a trusted photographer from a big news agency like the Press Association, or a member of the pool of accredited news photographers, to take an official image marking key occasions like birthdays or anniversaries.

But the Princess of Wales, herself a self-styled amateur photographer, has often preferred to release her own pictures of her family.

And in a world where the public is increasingly suspicious about the provenance of images —   AI-generated images like the “Balenciaga pope” and the arrest of Donald Trump went viral last year — taking ownership comes with risks.

Matthew Usher, a former staff photographer for U.K. regional newspaper the Eastern Daily Press, who photographed the royals at their Sandringham estate for 22 years, said changes in technology which allow sophisticated photo editing mean people already “question every image.”

Photos that come from a “trusted agency” like AP or the Press Association, or via local newspapers, are governed by agreed standards which mean you “don’t mess about with [a photo] at that level,” he added.

AP’s official “editorial standards” state that it does not use altered or digitally manipulated images. 

It was because of this, amid suspicions the picture had been manipulated, that AP joined the Press Association, Getty Images, AFP and Reuters in issuing a “photo kill” notice — an industry term that retracted the image and instructed clients to remove the photo from their systems — on Sunday.

Building bridges

For Usher, the controversy suggests the royals should consider returning to the use of universally-trusted professional photographers.

“They’ve broken trust now, and obviously it’s been spotted. When there’s editing mistakes in an image to that level it sticks out like a sore thumb. You’ve thrown yourself under the bus, and you have got now to try and repair the damage and bring someone in,” he said.

Others believe a wider reckoning is needed.

“It’s vital that those in positions of authority are aware of the potential pitfalls and the impact this could have on trust in our information ecosystems,” said Perry. 

“Tech companies are working on things such as watermarking the use of some tools in order to be more transparent about how a photo has been amended. This case shows the urgency for those tools to be made more robust and implemented comprehensively.”

Even some politicians agree. 

Britain’s Security Minister Tom Tugendhat, while pointing out many parents may have digitally “improved” their own pictures of wriggling or howling children over the Mother’s Day weekend, added that it was “important what we put out is honest, and that we record situations accurately.” 

It is a lesson Kate Middleton and the rest of the British royal family need to learn fast.