Princess of Wales: What led to palace admission over ‘manipulated’ photo of Kate
After major photo agencies pulled the Mother’s Day picture of the Princess of Wales and her three children, Kate has now personally apologised for any “confusion” caused and said she edited the image.
Sky News answers the major questions raised by some over the “manipulated” image.
When and why was the photo released?
The photo was published on Sunday morning on the Prince and Princess of Wales’s social media accounts in celebration of Mother’s Day, and featured Kate surrounded by the couple’s three children: Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
It was accompanied by the caption: “Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months. Wishing everyone a Happy Mother’s Day. C.”
The caption also said the photo was taken in 2024 by Prince William.
Analysis of the photo’s metadata by Sky News’s data & forensics unit found the image had been saved in photo editing software Adobe Photoshop twice on an Apple Mac – but it is unclear if it was saved on the same device.
The first save was made at 9.54pm on Friday night, with the second at 9.39am on Saturday morning.
The image was taken at Adelaide Cottage – the family’s home in Windsor – on a Canon 5D mark IV, which retails at £2,929.99 and used a Canon 50mm lens, which is priced at £1,629.99.
The Royal Family regularly publish their own photos to mark family occasions including birthdays and Christmas.
It is the first photograph released by Kensington Palace since Kate, 42, had abdominal surgery in January.
US celebrity news outlet TMZ did publish an unofficial paparazzi shot of the princess last week. It said the princess was spotted in a car driven by her mother Carole Middleton near Windsor Castle.
Kate was last seen in public on Christmas Day when she joined other members of the Royal Family for their annual church service and walk.
The Princess of Wales when she was last seen in public on Christmas Day. Pic: AP
The princess spent almost two weeks at The London Clinic earlier this year. The palace has revealed few details about her medical condition but said it is not cancer-related.
Kensington Palace said the princess was not expected to return to official duties until after Easter and would only provide updates on her recovery when there was significant new information to share.
It also added in a statement that the princess preferred to keep her personal information private, saying she wanted to “maintain as much normality for her children as possible”.
Why did news agencies ‘kill’ the picture?
Major international picture agencies “killed” the photograph on Sunday night – a direction that instructs media organisations that have used the picture to remove it from both their articles and archives.
Kill notices are uncommon and usually due to issues with copyright or journalistic process – but royal photographs being pulled is rare.
Associated Press (AP) was the first to pull the picture due to an “inconsistency in the alignment of Princess Charlotte’s left hand”.
The agency told Sky News in a statement: “The Associated Press initially published the photo, which was issued by Kensington Palace. The AP later 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.”
Reuters soon followed, saying it withdrew the picture following a “post-publication review” with a spokesperson adding the agency is “reviewing the matter”.
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Meanwhile, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said it had “come to light” that the image of the “Princess of Wales and her kids had been altered” and was therefore removed from its systems.
A Getty Images spokesperson also told Sky News: “Earlier today our picture desk identified a problematic image provided to Getty Images by Kensington Palace. We can confirm the image in question was removed from our site in accordance with our editorial policy.”
The Press Association news agency initially did not kill the picture on its service. A spokesperson said it was seeking urgent clarification from Kensington Palace on the concerns raised about manipulation.
But it later said it would be withdrawing the image from its picture service, saying: “Like other news agencies, PA Media issued the handout image provided by Kensington Palace of the Princess of Wales and her children in good faith yesterday.
“We became aware of concerns about the image and we carried a report about it last night, and made clear that we were seeking urgent clarification about the image from Kensington Palace. In the absence of that clarification, we are killing the image from our picture service.”
A community note was also added under the post on X, formerly Twitter, saying it had been “digitally altered”.
Community notes allow readers to add context to posts to help other users have a better understanding of what they are reading or viewing.
What questions were raised about the photo?
The most obvious issue is the apparent alteration with Princess Charlotte’s sleeve – AP quoted this as the main reason why it pulled the image.
But there are other peculiarities people have pointed out in the photograph.
Kate’s right hand is blurry in comparison to her left, some say her left jaw appears superimposed, and the zip on the left side of her jacket is not straight.
As well as Princess Charlotte’s cardigan, the waistband of her skirt also appears to have been inserted.
The pattern on Prince Louis’s jumper is also uneven and the wall to his right is not straight.
Prosecutions of sub postmasters by the Department for Work and Pensions could be “tainted” as Sky News reveals officials worked with now discredited Post Office investigators to secure convictions.
Around 100 prosecutions of Post Office staff were led by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) between 2001 and 2006.
It is understood that these usually involved the cashing in of stolen order books.
The Post Office itself wrongly prosecuted hundreds of sub-postmasters between 1999 and 2015 – based on evidence from the faulty Horizon accounting system.
The role of government
A Sky News investigation, however, has discovered that information was shared between Post Office investigation teams and the DWP.
Chair of the Justice Select Committee, Sir Robert Neill KC, said as a result DWP convictions “need to be looked at”.
“I hadn’t been aware of that, for example, there may have been material in the DWP case as a result of joint investigations – which suggests a disclosure failure,” he added.
“I think that’s the area they need to look at if we are saying their approach was tainted from the beginning – in the way the investigators adopted things – then joint operations I suspect would be just as tainted arguably as something where it has been the Post Office on its own.”
What was known?
A 2003 DWP report into fraud describes “joint working” and the “sharing of information” with the Post Office.
It also outlines a “Fraud Prevention Board” established by the DWP and Royal Mail Group plc which includes “the exchange of information that directly assists fraud prevention and investigations”.
In addition, separately, a 2003 letter seen by Sky News also indicates a connection between DWP and Post Office investigations.
The letter, from the then post affairs minister Stephen Timms, references the case of Roger Allen, a sub-postmaster from Norwich.
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It states: “Subsequent investigations by the police, the Post Office Investigation Department and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) led to a prosecution by DWP…”
Roger Allen was convicted in 2004 of stealing pension payments and was sentenced to six months in prison. He died in March of this year.
Mr Allen had pleaded guilty to spare his wife – after his lawyer told him in a letter that there had been “an indication from the Crown that they may discontinue the proceedings against Mrs Allen were you minded to plead guilty”.
Despite the Criminal Cases Review Commission deciding Mr Allen had grounds to appeal against his conviction – it was upheld by the Court of Appeal in 2021.
DWP prosecutions are not covered in upcoming government legislation that will overturn Post Office convictions.
Roger Allen. Pic: Keren Simpson
Fighting to clear names
Keren Simpson, Roger’s daughter, has vowed to fight to clear his name posthumously.
She describes her father as a “proud” and “honest” man who “couldn’t face or deal” with the fact his conviction would not be overturned.
She says “in the end he obviously gave up” and there is “very little surviving evidence” because of the passage of time.
“He’s the innocent one,” Keren states. “I don’t see why he’s got to try and prove it. They have got to try and prove it, and show what evidence they actually had on my dad.
“Because the Department of Work and Pensions have put a statement out saying there was surveillance and witness testimonies and physical evidence to show it.
“Show me it.”
Roger Allen. Pic: Keren Simpson
Investigation failures?
Sky News has also seen documents that suggest failures by DWP investigators in a different case in the 2000s.
It involved a sub-postmaster who decided to plead not guilty and was acquitted of stealing by a jury.
In one extract it says a “senior investigating officer” was “willing to admit in open court that (they) had been neglectful in (their) duty in securing evidence”.
Another document appears to show a failure to review transaction logs used as evidence against the sub-postmaster.
Some logs appear to show that the accused did not cash the “dockets”, used to collect pension payments.
Other transaction logs indicate the sub-postmaster was not present at a particular branch when the theft was alleged to have occurred.
Christopher Head
Chris Head, former sub-postmaster and a campaigner for others, has also seen the documents and says they point to a “deeply flawed” DWP investigation.
“…they failed to obtain all transaction logs for the entirety of this case, but the ones that they have, they have they clearly haven’t looked at.”
He believes there are “more cases out there” which could be “part of a miscarriage of justice”.
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: “We do not recognise these claims.
“DWP investigates offences against the welfare system to protect taxpayers’ money, and between 2001 and 2006 a small number of Post Office staff were convicted for welfare-related fraud.
“These cases involved complex investigations and were backed by evidence including filmed surveillance, stolen benefit books and witness statements – they did not rely on Horizon evidence, and this has been accepted by the Court of Appeal.”
The Post Office says it “continues to help other prosecuting authorities to ensure that they have every assistance in taking their work forward”.
“This includes sharing all the information we have in relation to prosecutions which have been brought by other prosecutors.”
Meanwhile, Lord Sikka has tabled an amendment in the House of Lords to the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill to include all DWP convictions.
An outbreak of a waterborne disease in Devon has prompted urgent warnings for residents to boil their tap water.
At least 22 cases of cryptosporidiosis disease have been confirmed in and around the town of Brixham in South West England.
But what is the parasite that is making people sick, what are the symptoms of being infected with it and how serious can it be?
What is cryptosporidiosis disease?
Cryptosporidiosis is the disease caused by the parasite cryptosporidium.
Often shortened to crypto, infections can be caused by drinking contaminated water or swallowing contaminated water in swimming pools or streams.
It can also be acquired through contact with the faeces of infected animals or humans.
What are the symptoms?
The symptoms of cryptosporidiosis include:
• profuse watery diarrhoea
• stomach pains
• nausea or vomiting
• low-grade fever
• loss of appetite
How long does it last?
Most people develop symptoms within one to 12 days of picking up the parasite.
Symptoms usually last for about two weeks, but can last up to six weeks or longer when the immune system is not working properly.
During the illness, you might think you are getting better but the illness returns a couple of days later before you fully recover.
How serious is it?
Most people recover, but in people with severely weakened immune systems it can cause severe disease and can be fatal.
Serious cases and death used to be more common, according to Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia (UEA).
This is because before effective antiretroviral treatments were introduced for HIV/AIDS, people living with these illnesses would not recover if they picked up cryptosporidiosis.
Who is most at risk of serious illness?
People with weak immune systems are at greater risk of serious illness. This includes:
• people on some immunosuppressive drugs, for example cancer or transplant patients
• people with untreated HIV/AIDS
• malnourished children
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Residents ‘worried’ over water parasite
Does it need treatment?
There is no specific treatment for cryptosporidiosis.
It important to drink plenty of fluids as diarrhoea or vomiting can lead to dehydration, according to advice from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).
You might also want to talk to a pharmacist about oral rehydration sachets to help replace the sugar, salts and minerals the body has lost.
Dr Lincoln Sargeant, Torbay’s Director of Public Health, said anyone with “severe symptoms like bloody diarrhoea” should contact NHS 111 or their GP.
Severe cases may require hospital treatment.
How do you know if you have crypto?
The symptoms of crypto are similar to other stomach bugs, so the only way to know for sure if you have it is for your doctor to send a sample of your faeces to be tested in a laboratory.
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Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
How can you stop the illness spreading?
If you are ill, stay away from nursery, school or work while you have symptoms, and for at least 48 hours after they stop.
You should also avoid swimming for two weeks after being unwell.
You should not prepare food for anyone else until 48 hours after diarrhoea has stopped.
Make sure you’re using good handwashing practices too, washing your hands thoroughly when handling food and after using the toilet.
The UKHSA also advises washing bedding and towels on the hottest possible cycle.
UK
Lucy Letby: Families of victims want inquiry live streamed to stop ‘grossly offensive’ conspiracy theories
The inquiry into how nurse Lucy Letby was able to murder babies at a hospital in Chester will begin to hear evidence in September.
Lawyers for the families of Letby’s victims told a preliminary hearing that the inquiry should be live streamed to the public to prevent the spread of “grossly offensive” conspiracy theories.
Letby was sentenced to 14 whole-life orders after she was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others while working on the neo-natal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2015 and 2016.
At the preliminary hearing, inquiry chair Lady Justice Thirlwall heard submissions on whether the hearings should be publicly broadcast.
Peter Skelton KC, on behalf of the families of six babies, said Letby’s crimes continued to be the subject of conspiracy theories online.
“One of the most effective antidotes to those theories and the damage they cause will be to see and to hear the people involved in the hospital give a true and comprehensive account of the facts,” he said.
But Andrew Kennedy KC, representing the Countess of Chester, said there was a “high level of anxiety” from staff at the prospect of giving evidence which was live streamed.
He said: “If a witness is concerned about live-streaming then if we can remove that concern we can, we would suggest, encourage candour, frankness and openness.”
Letby was given multiple whole-life terms and will be re-tried on one charge next month
Richard Baker KC, representing some of the other families, said: “Their desire in this case is for change and so that others do not experience what they have experienced.”
They were “saddened” and “concerned” at the suggestion the lack of transparency might continue, he said.
Lady Justice Thirlwall will give her decision on whether the hearings will be broadcast at a later date.
She had begun the proceedings with a pause for reflection on the “lives lost”, “injuries sustained” and “suffering” of the families.
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The hearing was told 188 requests for information had been made to individuals including midwives, nurses, doctors, managers and members of the hospital board.
The inquiry hearings are scheduled to begin on 10 September at Liverpool Town Hall.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The parents of the babies will be among the first to give evidence.
Counsel to the inquiry Rachel Langdale KC told the hearing: “There are no sides. It is a search for the truth.”
Last month Letby asked the Court of Appeal for permission to mount a full legal challenge to her conviction. Judges are due to rule on this at a later date.
The former nurse is due to face a re-trial next month on one charge of the attempted murder of a baby in February 2016.
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