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☆ Princes William and Harry to appear separately at event honoring Diana
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Rob Picheta | Lauren Said-Moorhouse | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Prince William and Prince Harry will separately take part in an event on Thursday honoring their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales. William, the Prince of Wales, will attend the Diana Legacy Awards ceremony in London, where he is expected to give a speech marking the charity’s 25th anniversary, according to Kensington Palace. A video message from his brother Harry, the Duke of Sussex, will also be broadcast – but after William has left the event, PA Media reported, citing local press. The Diana Legacy Awards are held every other year, and recognize young leaders in the name of William and Harry’s late mother, Diana. William is expected to meet the award winners after the event on Thursday.

Persons: Prince William, Prince Harry, Diana, Princess of Wales, Prince of Wales, Harry, Duke of Sussex, William, Catherine , Princess of Wales, Kate, Harry’s, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, “, Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles III Organizations: CNN, PA Media, CNN’s Royal Locations: London, Kensington, Paris, United States

☆ Mars could be creating 'giant whirlpools' deep within our planet's oceans
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Mars may be 140 million miles away, but its gravitational pull could be impacting Earth's oceans. Scientists at the University of Sydney in Australia believe the red planet's tug is creating "giant whirlpools" in the oceans called eddies, which can shift the deep-sea floor. This, they claim, is part of a 2.4-million-year climate "grand cycle" on Earth that has been ongoing for at least 40 million years. The red planet's orbit and ours are locked in an intricate dance, and every so often, these line up so that Mars' gravitational pull on Earth is just a little more intense — this is called resonance. This information is crucial when refining models helping us see how our planet's intricate climate will progress over time.

Persons: Adriana Dutkiewicz, NASA's, Dietmar Müller, Malin, Matthew England, Benjamin Mills, wasn't, Mills Organizations: Service, University of Sydney, Business, NASA's Goddard Space, geosciences, Nature Communications, Mars NASA, JPL, Systems, University of New, New, University of Leeds Locations: Australia, Japan, New, University of New South Wales, Sydney

☆ John Oliver can't look away from the 'Katespiracy' either
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

John Oliver is getting swept up in the "Katespiracy" too. Oliver said he didn't care about where Kate Middleton had gone until he saw the doctored photo of her. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. AdvertisementIt's not just the internet — the "Katespiracy" has John Oliver in its clutches, too. The bizarre turn of events was puzzling for Oliver and Cohen, with the latter expressing his bemusement at Kate's apology.

Persons: John Oliver, Oliver, Kate Middleton, —, It's, we've, Andy Cohen, Kate, Kensington, Wales, Cohen, Oliver hasn't, Queen Elizabeth II, Kate's, Prince William Organizations: Service, Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France, BI Locations: British

☆ Kate Middleton’s Story Is About More Than Kate Middleton - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Zeynep Tufekci | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“Where Is Kate Middleton?” yet another headline blared on Monday. But the frenzy around Catherine, Princess of Wales, raises important questions that go well beyond the usual concerns of royal watchers. On the surface, the controversy over Catherine’s photo and her absence may have nothing to do with Meghan. Their supposed rivalry has been manipulated for years now to generate nostalgia for social hierarchies of an idealized past. In modern Britain, royalty has played a similar role of entertainment and distraction — a role that persisted during the country’s post-Brexit decline.

Persons: Kate Middleton, Catherine , Princess of, Catherine, Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, Meghan, Juvenal Locations: Catherine , Princess of Wales, Britain, Rome

☆ I’m addicted to TikTok. What do I do now that the House has effectively voted to ban it?
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The bill would prohibit TikTok from US app stores unless the social media platform is quickly spun off from ByteDance. Some TikTok users posted videos ahead of Wednesday’s vote showing them calling their representatives and threatening to vote for alternate candidates if they voted to pass the bill. “This process was secret and the bill was jammed through for one reason: it’s a ban,” a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement following the Wednesday House vote. That may be even more true after Biden’s likely opponent in November, former President Donald Trump, said he opposed a TikTok ban, a reversal from his stance as president. App stores that violate the legislation could be fined based on the number of users of a banned app.

Persons: …, Princess, Wales, TikTokkers, ByteDance, Chuck Schumer, “, ”, Dick Durbin, Joe Biden, ” Durbin, Donald Trump, TikTok, Dan Ives Organizations: New, New York CNN, Foreign, House Energy, Commerce, Senate, Apple, Google Locations: New York, ByteDance, It’s, Montana, United States

☆ Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's photographer hits back at reports claiming he doctored their pregnancy announcement picture
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Talia Lakritz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read previewRoyal photographer Misan Harriman quashed tabloid reports that he doctored Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's 2021 pregnancy announcement photo in a series of posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday. The reports come amid controversy surrounding a photo of Kate Middleton released by Kensington Palace on Sunday. Advertisement"They weren't actually under a willow tree, but they were lying outside in a meadow, weren't they, Harry and Meghan, when you took the photograph of them?" AdvertisementThe proliferation of AI image generators has made it difficult to distinguish between untouched photos, doctored images, and completely AI-generated creations.

Persons: —, Misan Harriman, Prince Harry, Meghan Markle's, Kate Middleton, Harriman, Harry, Meghan, Michael Berkeley, Harriman's, Kate, Princess, Wales, Insider's Hasan Chowdhury, Beatrice Nolan Organizations: Service, Business, Daily Mail, BBC Radio, Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France, Presse Locations: Kensington, California, British, @misanharriman

☆ 5 photos of the royal family that people have said look edited
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Maria Noyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Kate Middleton admitted to editing an official royal photo of her and her children for Mother's Day. From missing fingers to odd lines, here are five times people thought royal pictures were altered. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. AdvertisementThe royal family is in hot water — again — after Kate Middleton confessed to digitally editing an official royal portrait on Monday. The photo in question was of Kate surrounded by her three children, released by Kensington Palace to celebrate Mother's Day on Sunday.

Persons: Kate Middleton, It's, —, Kate, Princess, Wales Organizations: Mother's, Service, Associated Press, Reuters Locations: Kensington

☆ The Royals Tried to Control Their Image Online. The Internet Had Other Ideas.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Trace back the digitally altered photograph of Catherine, Princess of Wales, and its roots lie in a tragedy of another Princess of Wales, Diana, whose death in 1997 predated the creation of Facebook by nearly seven years. Diana’s fatal car accident, after a high-speed pursuit by photographers in Paris, left a lasting imprint on her sons, William and Harry. They grew up vowing not to take part in what they viewed as a pathological relationship between the royal family and the press, one in which they were the abused partners. The rise of social media gave this younger generation of royals a way to bypass the tabloids they reviled, with popular platforms like Instagram and Twitter, where they could post carefully curated news and images of themselves, unmediated by the London papers or the lurking paparazzi. But now they are experiencing the darker side of public life in the wild west of the web.

Persons: Catherine , Princess of Wales, Wales, Diana, Harry Organizations: Facebook, Twitter Locations: Paris, London

☆ Kate Middleton described herself as an amateur photographer, but she's been honing her skills for decades
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Mikhaila Friel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Kate's claim that she is an amateur photographer is questionable, an expert said. CHRIS JACKSON/Getty ImagesHer description of herself as an amateur photographer could very well be down to the British trait of modesty, but people aren't convinced. The palace typically uses Kate's photos instead of hiring a royal photographer to mark major occasions and milestones, such as birthdays. Speaking to BI in 2020, royal photographer Samir Hussein said Kate takes photos that "any professional would be very happy with." Kate's statement comes during a crisis period after King Charles announced his cancer diagnosis in January.

Persons: Kate Middleton, Kate's, —, Princess, Kate, She's, CHRIS JACKSON, aren't, Kristen Meinzer, Prince William, Prince George , Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis, Meinzer, William, doesn't, George, Charlotte, Louis, Andrew Matthews, Claudia Acott Williams, William ., Count Nikolai von Bismarck, Prince Harry . Prince William, Chris Jackson, Queen Camilla, Samir Hussein, Hussein, Jack Royston, Royston, King Charles, King Charles III, Tim Rooke, Shutterstock, Harry, Meghan, Prince Harry's, Sovereign Grant Organizations: Service, Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France, Presse, Kensington Palace, Palaces, Daily Express, Giants, St . Andrews University, Daily Mail, Royal Photographic Society, Royal, BI, Sovereign Locations: Wales, Kensington, Charlotte, St

☆ A ‘Perfect Monolith’ Appears in Wales
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Aimee Ortiz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Not one to let “horrific” weather stop him, Craig Muir left his house in Hay-on-Wye in Powys, Wales, early Tuesday to take his usual walk up Hay Bluff when he spotted something large, shiny and new. Standing there in the distance, like a beacon, was a silver monolith with no apparent trace as to how it got there or what it was doing in that spot. It looked like it had “just been dropped down from space,” Mr. Muir said during a telephone interview on Tuesday. The sighting immediately captured media attention, calling to mind similar mysterious objects placed around the world in late 2020. “If you didn’t know anything, to look at it, you could have easily thought it had been dropped off by a U.F.O.

Persons: Craig Muir, Mr, Muir, ” Locations: Hay, Wye, Powys, Wales

☆ The Kate Middleton photo drama is the gift that social media needed
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Alexandra Bacon | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Some social media users say Twitter has become irrelevant since it was rebranded as X. But the recent flurry of memes about Kate Middleton has reignited the platform. AdvertisementSince Elon Musk took over Twitter and rebranded it to X, some users have suggested that the social media platform has become irrelevant. But the recent Kate Middleton debacle has reignited some of the old-school enjoyment on the site and app. AdvertisementSome X users are showing self-awareness of how far they've fallen down the "Katespiracy'" rabbit hole.

Persons: Kate Middleton, —, Elon Musk, Wales, Middleton, Princess Organizations: Twitter, Service, BBL Locations: Kensington, Middleton

☆ Opinion: What Princess of Wales photo really shows - a monarchy struggling
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Opinion Rosa Prince | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

This photo released by Kensington Palace shows Kate, Princess of Wales, with her children, Prince Louis, left, Prince George and Princess Charlotte. In a constitutional monarchy where kings and queens wield little actual, but plenty of soft power, visibility is everything. Perhaps the biggest clue: How on earth had William managed to capture all three children smiling at the same time? The palace meanwhile failing to issue a comment for long hours while the nation dove head first down the rabbit hole. More than 12 hours later, Kate finally responded: “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” she said on social media.

Persons: Rosa Prince, Read, Catherine , Princess, Wales, scurrilous, Kate, Prince William, Prince George, Princess of, Prince Louis, Princess Charlotte, Princess, King Charles III, Charles, – Kate, Barbie, William’s, Diana, —, William, Queen Elizabeth II’s, Prince Harry, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Prince Andrew, Jeffrey Epstein, Elizabeth, George, ”, Louis ’, “ Organizations: Politico UK, London CNN, Kensington Palace, Royals, AP, Reuters Locations: Kensington, Princess of Wales, Buckingham, Russia, Europe, California, British

☆ The Princess of Wales is in the spotlight — for not being in the spotlight
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. In today's big story, we're looking at the curious case of Kate Middleton's edited photo that's got the internet buzzing. The big storyPrincess problemsChris Jackson/Getty Images; Ian Vogler - WPA Pool/Getty Images; Chelsea Jia Feng/BIA picture is worth a thousand words. AdvertisementBut this time around, it's the Princess of Wales in the spotlight… for not being in the spotlight. She explained away the issue by saying she does "occasionally experiment with editing," but plenty of people weren't buying it .

Persons: —, we've, Kate Middleton's, that's, Chris Jackson, Ian Vogler, Chelsea Jia Feng, hasn't, Prince Andrew , Duke, York, Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Duke, Duchess of Sussex, Wales, Kate, Insider's Kwan Wei Kevin Tan, Mikhaila Friel, Kensington, Kensington Palance, Patrick Witty's, Patrick, Kate Middleton, King Charles, Mikhaila, Easter, Katie Notopoulos, BI's Hasan Chowdhury, Beatrice Nolan, Chris Gash, Stephanie Pomboy, Max, Aravind Srinivas, Nvidia's, Artur Debat, Eric Boyd, Joe Biden, Dan DeFrancesco, Hallam Bullock, Jordan Parker Erb, George Glover Organizations: Service, Business, Royals, JPMorgan, Anadolu, Apple, Meta, New York Times, Tesla, Microsoft, OpenAI, International Brotherhood of Teamsters Locations: London, Kensington, British, China, Georgia , Mississippi, Washington, New York

☆ Princess of Wales photo retraction correction
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Kensington Palace said the photograph was taken by Prince William at the family's home in Windsor earlier in the month. An earlier version misstated the timing.

Persons: Prince William Locations: Kensington, Windsor

☆ The 'Katespiracy' is officially getting out of control
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Now some people on X, formerly Twitter, have coined a catchall term for all the Kate-related conspiracy theories that have been swirling online — "Katespiracy." AdvertisementAs of press time, Kensington Palace has not publicly responded to allegations that the photos were altered. AdvertisementNone of these conspiracy theories, which range from the mildly plausible to completely outlandish, have been definitively proven. What people do know, however, is what Kensington Palace has been willing to disclose. Kensington Palace did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.

Persons: Kensington, Kate Middleton, Kate, —, she's, rince, ike Organizations: Service, Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France, Presse, AP

☆ Kate’s doctored photo raises concerns about tools that let everyone easily edit images
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Brian Fung | Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Although celebrities have altered photos with editing tools for years, images taken of the royal family have a historical importance and are expected to be authentic. The use of image editing to present a false narrative goes back almost to the dawn of photography itself. Image tools with generative AI will allow so much more than photo manipulation because people will be able to create images from completely new scenarios. As AI images hit the mainstream, it will open up more discussions around transparency and the need to regulate usage so news outlets and the public can better spot AI-generated and augmented images, he said. Although AI image watermarks already being implemented on certain platforms, mandating that will be a challenge, Hayden said.

Persons: Catherine , Princess of Wales, Wales, Kate, ”, Princess of, Prince Louis, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Princess, Google’s, Ramesh Raskar, who’s, Raskar, Reece Hayden, Hayden Organizations: CNN, Kensington Palace, Agence France, Presse, Reuters, Associated Press, Adobe, Google, MIT Media, Apple, Facebook, ABI Research Locations: Princess of Wales, Kensington

☆ Kensington Palace's reputation is in tatters. This is what it should do to save it.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Mikhaila Friel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read previewKensington Palace is floundering — but there are two key ways its reputation can be mended, according to royal commentators and PR experts. Kate Middleton has been absent from the public eye since January, when the palace said she underwent abdominal surgery. In a rare personal message posted to Kensington Palace's X account on Monday, Kate said: "Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing." Kensington Palace's reputation matters more than ever, especially as the monarchy's value has come into question after Queen Elizabeth II's death.

Persons: —, Kate Middleton, Kate, Prince William, Karwai Tang, Wales, Evan Nierman, Banyan, Queen Elizabeth II's, Sovereign Grant, William's, William, Queen Camilla, Jack Royston, Samir Hussein, Chris, Tenile Clarke, Clarke Organizations: Service, Business, Kensington Palace, Sovereign, Brand Finance, Commonwealth, ITV, Ship, Chambers Media Solutions Locations: Kensington, Republic, Wales

☆ The UK's $3.7B flagship aircraft carrier caught fire in another embarrassing incident for the Royal Navy
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Rebecca Rommen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A fire broke out on the Royal Navy's flagship, the HMS Queen Elizabeth, a report said. Last month, HMS Queen Elizabeth pulled out of a NATO exercise following a mechanical issue. AdvertisementThe UK's $3.7 billion flagship aircraft carrier caught fire in yet another embarrassment for the Royal Navy. HMS Queen Elizabeth is now en route to Rosyth, Scotland, for repairs, specifically targeting the starboard propeller shaft coupling. The high-profile failures of the UK's flagship aircraft carrier have shown how Britain is struggling to keep up with first-rate navies around the world, experts have said.

Persons: HMS, Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth, —, HMS Prince, Wales, Rishi Sunak, Anne, Marie Trevelyan, Tom Tugendhat, Lord Houghton, Richard Barrons Organizations: Royal, Service, Royal Navy, UK Defence, Business Insider, Ministry of Defence, Foreign, Houthis, Financial Times Locations: NATO, Glen, Loch Long, Scotland, Rosyth, Wales, Russia, China, Red, Britain

☆ News agencies retract image of Princess of Wales and children on manipulation concerns
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Catherine, Princess of Wales, Princess Charlotte of Wales, Prince George of Wales, Prince William, Prince of Wales, Prince Louis of Wales and Mia Tindall attend Christmas Morning Service at Sandringham Church on December 25, 2023 in Sandringham, Norfolk. International news agencies withdrew a picture of the U.K.'s Princess of Wales and her three children, saying it failed to meet their editorial standards. The image of Kate, Princess of Wales, surrounded by her children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, was issued earlier on Sunday by Kensington Palace, the name of the family's offices. As of Monday morning, the image remained posted to the Prince and Princess of Wales's account on social platform X. Kensington Palace said the photograph was taken by Prince William at the family's home in Windsor earlier in the week.

Persons: Catherine, Princess of Wales, Princess Charlotte of Wales, Prince George of Wales, Prince William , Prince of Wales, Prince Louis of Wales, Mia Tindall, Wales, Kate, Princess of, Prince George , Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis, Princess Charlotte's cardigan, Prince, Prince William Organizations: Morning Service, Sandringham Church, International, Kensington Palace, Associated Press, Getty, Reuters, London Locations: Sandringham , Norfolk, Princess of Wales, AFP, Kensington, Windsor

☆ Kate Middleton's photo-editing confession sparks fresh accusations that a Christmas card was similarly manipulated
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Maria Noyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Prince Louis' finger appears to be missing in the 2023 Christmas cardIn December 2023, Kensington Palace released the Waleses' annual Christmas card. AdvertisementKate's confession that she edited the Mother's Day photo has sparked fresh speculation that the Christmas card portrait was also manipulated. There was something off about their Christmas card too," one user wrote. "So why was the Christmas card image taken by Josh Shinner not pulled? "After the Christmas card fiasco you would have thought somebody would have said hold on," one commenter wrote.

Persons: —, Kate Middleton, Princess, Wales, Prince George , Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis, Max Mumby, Kate, It's, Josh Shinner, Louis, Prince, commenter Organizations: Service, Kensington, Business, Reuters, Associated Press, Getty, AP Locations: Kensington Palace, Kensington

☆ Kensington Palace took 13 hours to explain Kate Middleton's edited photo. People aren't convinced.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Mikhaila Friel | Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Kate Middleton apologized for editing a family photo after media agencies recalled the image. It was the first official image of Kate since her absence, which has sparked conspiracy theories. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. AdvertisementIt followed Kate's lengthy absence from the public eye after the Princess of Wales underwent a " planned abdominal surgery " in January. Reuters, Agence France-Press, and, most recently, the Press Association have also recalled the image over concerns it had been altered.

Persons: Kate Middleton, Kate, —, Princess, Wales, Catherine, rince, witter, ike, ince Organizations: Service, Palace's, ust, essington

☆ Kate Middleton picture fiasco shows we're at the point of no return with trusting anything online
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A family photo of the Princess of Wales has added fuel to the fire of a wild online conspiracy. The fiasco proves that trusting anything online has become a total nightmare in the AI age. AdvertisementHowever, concerns over the family image have had the opposite effect for an entirely understandable reason. AdvertisementOpenAI has attempted to introduce some form of digital watermarking for images generated by its AI tools, but studies indicate that most forms of marking out AI content are still rife with weaknesses. But in the age of AI, users also need to seek their own verification before trusting online content — something that's still easier said than done.

Persons: Princess, —, Kate Middleton, Wales, Kate, Prince William, Princess Charlotte's, Prince, Princess of Wales, Queen Consort, Henry Ajder, Adjer, Ajder, OpenAI, Pope Francis Organizations: Service, Getty, Associated Press, Reuters, AFP, BI, Vatican Media Locations: Wales, Kensington

☆ Kate’s photo should have quelled the rumors. Editing it has done exactly the opposite
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Lauren Said-Moorhouse | Max Foster | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The photograph was released by Kensington Palace early Sunday on the couple’s official social media accounts, to mark Mother’s Day in the United Kingdom. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day,” she wrote before ending her post with a “C” for Catherine. This year’s Mother’s Day photograph was also the first proper sighting of the princess since Christmas Day. Questions about the Mother’s Day image first emerged on social media. In the past, the family’s amateur photographs have been well received when posted on social media.

Persons: Catherine, Princess of Wales, Kate, Prince George , Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis, –, Prince William, ”, Princess of, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Princess, Wales, Catherine , Princess of Wales, They’ve, they’ve, William Organizations: London CNN, Kensington Palace, CNN, Associated Press, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, CNN’s Royal, Westminster Abbey Locations: Kensington, United Kingdom, Princess of Wales, Windsor, Adelaide

☆ Princess Catherine Apologizes, Saying She Edited Image
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Mark Landler | More About Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Catherine, the Princess of Wales, apologized on Monday for doctoring a photo of her with her three children, which was recalled by several news agencies on Sunday after they determined the image had been manipulated. The decision to recall the photo reignited a storm of speculation about Catherine, who has not been seen in public since she had abdominal surgery nearly two months ago. In her statement, the 42-year-old princess chalked up the alteration to a photographer’s innocent desire to retouch the image. “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” Catherine wrote in a post on social media. Hours after Kensington Palace released the photo, The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse issued advisories urging news organizations to remove the image.

Persons: Catherine, Princess, Wales, chalked, ” Catherine, “, George, Charlotte, Louis Organizations: Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France Locations: Britain

☆ Even Photoshop Can’t Erase Royals’ Latest P.R. Blemish
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a digitally altered picture of an absent British princess is apparently worth a million. That seemed to be the lesson after another day of internet-breaking rumors and conspiracy theories swirling around Catherine, Princess of Wales, who apologized on Monday for having doctored a photograph of herself with her three children that circulated on news sites and social media on Sunday. It was the first official photo of Catherine since before she underwent abdominal surgery two months ago — a cheerful Mother’s Day snapshot, taken by her husband, Prince William, at home. But if it was meant to douse weeks of speculation about Catherine’s well-being, it had precisely the opposite effect. Now the British royal family faces a storm of questions about how it communicates with the press and public, whether Catherine manipulated other family photos she released in previous years, and whether she felt driven to retouch this photo to disguise the impact of her illness.

Persons: Catherine , Princess of Wales, Catherine, Prince William Locations: Catherine

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