One of the world’s biggest news agencies no longer considers Kensington Palace trustworthy.
The boss of Agence France-Presse (AFP) announced Tuesday that the agency is reconsidering its once-cozy relationship with Prince William and Kate Middleton after the couple released an edited photo of the Princess of Wales and their children that has since been pulled from circulation.
When asked on BBC Radio 4’s “Media Show” whether the palace can be viewed as a “trusted source,” AFP’s global news director, Phil Chetwynd, emphatically replied, “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,” he explained to host Ros Atkins, “even from what we would call trusted sources.”
The furor began last Sunday — Mother’s Day in the UK — when William, 41, and Middleton, 42, posted a photo on social media of the princess, who has stayed out of the spotlight since undergoing abdominal surgery in January, surrounded by their three kids, Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5.
Almost immediately, eagle-eyed netizens noticed several glaring Photoshop errors.
Top agencies including the Associated Press (AP), Reuters and Getty Images, along with AFP, then issued a rare “kill notice” to media outlets instructing them to remove the portrait immediately.
“At closer inspection, it appears that the source has manipulated the image,” the AP said.
Middleton issued an apology the following day.
“Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused,” she wrote on X.
“I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day. C.”
Chetwynd shared that the agencies confabbed before agreeing to pull the image and even asked Kensington Palace to provide the original, which it reportedly refused to do.
The news honcho noted that it is highly unusual for media agencies to pull a photo.
More must-see royals coverage:
“To kill something on the basis of manipulation [is rare],” he said. “[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.
“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.”
The altered photo has only added to the deepening mystery around Middleton’s health.
The palace announced earlier this year that she had undergone a “planned” operation but would not return to the public eye until at least April.
Since then, outlandish conspiracy theories have swirled around her absence.
The palace has refused to comment further, only saying Middleton is “doing well.”
William, meanwhile, has continued carrying out his duties, most recently on Thursday when he was all smiles during an appearance at a youth center in London.