Kate’s doctored photo is particularly troubling – presenting big questions for the Royal Family
The Princess of Wales has taken the blame. She has apologised for the doctored Mother’s Day photograph, which was issued officially on behalf of the Royal Family.
“Give her a break”, she’s been in hospital and is recuperating after serious abdominal surgery, sums up a widespread mood of forgiveness.
“What does it matter?” chorus those eager to move on to more “serious” issues.
Sympathy for Kate, and what could be her understandable carelessness, should not wipe away concerns raised by the curious case of the altered snapshot.
This seemingly trivial matter touches on the credibility of the mainstream media in the photoshop era and the fair and accurate reporting of the monarchy and the Royal Family, who are the taxpayer-funded and government-enabled titular heads of the British state.
The Royal Family enjoy enormous privilege in exchange for living in a goldfish bowl. They are subject to public scrutiny because their function is to preside over and represent the nation in public.
The unforced error of the picture has led to global speculation on the state of Kate’s health and marriage.
This incident is also an indicative battle in the existential war between truth and fake news. That explains why the world’s five leading news agencies, including Reuters and Associated Press, took the dramatic step of issuing a kill notice on a picture they had distributed.
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Agency Reuters issued a ‘kill’ notice for the image. Pic: Reuters
It could be a fuss about nothing. A busy mother inexpertly tinkering with the folds of clothing in a picture which she knew were going to be viewed by millions. We will never know unless the “Palaces” – either Kensington or Buckingham – publish the source material on which Kate, if it were Kate, was working.
The unreliable photo is particularly troubling because there was nothing forcing the Waleses to give it out. It was distributed to gain advantage and scotch public curiosity aroused by Kate and her three children staying out of sight since the beginning of this year.
Picture editing is nothing new
Crude airbrushing and cropping of images have gone on since William Fox Talbot invented photography. Alterations were obvious. Professional photographers were even expected “to touch up” the portraits they took.
Drastic doctoring of photographs used to be an almost comical trope associated with dictatorships. Whoops, there goes Trotsky who used to be standing next to Lenin!
In free societies, artfully posed official portraits were welcomed. Independent photographers were also given access to take pictures for themselves. As a result, the public also got to see shots of politicians and dignitaries grimacing, alone or at each other, or even nodding off at official functions.
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How Kate doctored royal picture
Not cheating with photographs matters more today because it is so easy to do it. Anyone with a smartphone or laptop has a camera and the tools for editing at their fingertips.
Once digital copies are made it seems to be practically impossible to detect the full extent of manipulation that has taken place. For example, nobody has established definitively whether the picture of Prince Andrew with his arm around 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre is genuine or fake, as he has suggested.
Charlotte’s cuff, Kate’s zip, Louis’s jumper, the wonky skirting board and window frame – glitches have been spotted in the picture. Experts cannot confirm whether or not bigger changes were made.
They have identified at least three separate attempts to alter the central area of the picture, where the family are depicted.
Some media-savvy celebrities worked out how to exploit the public’s taste for candid photographs with studied informality. Who can forget Diana sitting alone outside the Taj Mahal or arriving dressed-to-kill at the Serpentine gala?
Diana’s famous photo outside the Taj Mahal, with William and Kate at the same spot. Pic: AP
William has combined his mother’s taste for informality with a fierce desire to protect his and his family’s privacy. In place of stiffly-posed shoots, the Waleses got into the habit of releasing pictures on red letter days taken by Kate, “a keen amateur photographer”.
Only a bit better than what could have been shot by the average mum, her pictures gave a winning impression of unstuffy informality. This has now backfired given the possibility that the family may have been unable to muster a spontaneous image of relaxed happiness for this year’s Mothers’ Day.
The media’s unique offering
Keeping photography in the Royal Family satisfied the public appetite for pictures, while maintaining absolute control by the Prince and Princess of what we got to see. A similar desire for control is manifested by Kensington Palace, and for that matter Downing Street.
Both have appointed official photographers in recent years, consequently excluding independent professionals from some photo opportunities. Number 10 only released the pictures taken at COVID “parties” when they were forced to by official investigations.
As sources of pictures have proliferated and the struggle for access has intensified, mainstream news organisations have had to take care of what they, uniquely, can offer – fair and accurate reporting.
The Prince of Wales during a visit to a charity youth zone, in a picture taken by the Press Association. Pic: PA
This includes taking great pains to verify what they distribute. Most reputable news organisations have been caught out by fakes and occasionally distorted their own analogue material in the past.
They have had to tighten up their procedures to deal with the growing ease with which fakes can be produced by anyone so inclined. The picture agencies put out the royal photo in good faith – it had come from an impeccable source after all – but on closer examination their trust was misplaced.
Citizen journalists, people offering their own material for use in reporting, have turned out to be unreliable.
Some, like those trying to get mentioned as “Hugh Janus” or “Ivor Bigun” on phone-ins, are out for a laugh.
Others, such as those who send in images of breaking news events, but which were actually taken elsewhere, just want to take part.
Then there are those who deliberately put out fake material to back up their argument and, just as dangerous, conspiracy theorists who try to discredit accurate material on the grounds that it has been faked.
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Where is Kate? A timeline of events
Reputational minefield
As ever in the IT age, the US has led with the promulgation of fake news, including doctored pictures of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden. The UK is following. To give just one example, an AI-generated soundbite, allegedly spoken by Sir Keir Starmer, was recently widely circulated and discredited.
Monitoring and annulling fake material will inevitably be one of the mainstream media’s most important functions in this year’s elections.
Once one thing turns out to be questionable, bigger questions arise. The Royal Family’s partial openness about the King’s cancer and Kate’s operation without specifics has inevitably raised more questions than answers – likewise William’s sudden withdrawal from his godfather’s memorial for a vague “personal matter”.
Now the Royal Family have stumbled into a reputational minefield with their doctored picture.
Questions are not only being asked in the “sewer” of the internet, as Britain’s official royal correspondents are reporting dismissively.
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Major foreign news outlets, including US network television, are openly speculating about William and Kate’s relationship.
The quickest way to dispel doubts will be if Kate is able to resume her full programme of public engagements after Easter, as expected.
The Waleses are not the only ones whose reputations are on the line.
The mainstream media are also under pressure to report truth as never before. Forgiveness, alas, is not the same as restoring trust.
The Russian state has been making more money from its oil and gas industry in the past three months than in any comparable period since the early days of the Ukraine invasion, it has emerged.
The figures underline that despite the imposition of various sanctions on fossil fuel exports from Russia since February 2022, the country is still making significant sums from them. This is in part because rather than preventing Russia from exporting oil, gas and coal, they have simply changed the geography of the global fossil fuels business.
In the three months to April, Russia made a monthly average of 1.2 trillion rubles (£10.4bn) from its oil and gas revenues, according to Sky analysis of figures collected by Bloomberg.
That is the highest three-month average since April 2022.
It comes amid elevated oil prices and concerns that sanctions on Russia are failing to prevent the country earning money and waging war on Ukraine.
Before the invasion of Ukraine, the world’s biggest recipients of Russian oil experts were the European Union, the US and China. Since then, the UK, US and EU have banned the import of crude oil or refined products from Russia.
G7 nations have also introduced a price cap which aims to prevent any Western companies – from shipping firms to insurers – from assisting with any Russian oil exports for anything more than $60 a barrel.
However, Russia continues to export just as much oil as it did before the invasion of Ukraine and the imposition of the price cap.
Sanctions experts say the price cap has been a qualified success, since it has slightly reduced the potential revenues enjoyed by the Kremlin, if it intends to ship that oil via most commercial ships. In response, Russia is reported to have built up a so-called “dark fleet” of ships carrying Russian oil without obeying those sanctions.
The top three destinations for Russian oil are now China, India and Turkey. The UK now imports considerably more oil and oil products from the Middle East than before, making it more reliant on the Gulf.
However, Russian fossil fuel molecules are still being exported to the UK, albeit indirectly, because the sanctions imposed by western nations do not cover oil products refined elsewhere.
The upshot is that Indian refineries are importing a record amount of oil from Russia, and Britain is importing a record amount of oil from Indian refineries – up by 176% since the invasion of Ukraine.
At least some Russian oil still powers the cars in Britain and the planes refilling in British airports, but because it is impossible to trace the fossil fuels molecule by molecule, it is hard to know precisely how much.
Pubs will be able to extend their opening hours to 1am if England or Scotland make it to the Euro 2024 semi-finals this summer.
Venues will be allowed to stay open for an extra two hours on match days if either or both teams reach the last four or the final, the government said.
Most pubs shut by 11pm but ministers can make an order to relax licensing hours to mark occasions of “exceptional national significance”.
Home Secretary James Cleverly said the move will “allow friends, families and communities to come together for longer to watch their nation hopefully bring it home”.
It covers venues in England and Wales, with Scotland and Northern Ireland in charge of their own licensing rules.
The move comes after a consultation at the end of last year and is hoped to provide a boost to the hospitality industry, which has been hit hard by soaring energy prices and the cost of living crisis.
Germany is hosting Euro 2024, with the semi-finals taking place on Tuesday 9 July and Wednesday 10 July, with the final on Sunday 14 July.
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The head of trade body UK Hospitality Kate Nicholls said the extended hours were “essential to allow venues and fans to take full advantage”.
Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said by “cutting red tape, doing business will be that much easier”.
She added: “The beer and pub sector is set for a bumper summer of sport, so let’s hope that England and Scotland make it not just through to the semi-finals but meet in the final itself, with pub goers able to cheer the teams on with a beer later into the night thanks to these new measures.”
Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka console each other after defeat on penalties against Italy in the Euro 2020 final
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England fell short of European glory in the COVID-delayed Euro 2020 after losing to Italy in the final.
If the team manages to go one better this summer, it will be the first major trophy won by the men’s team since the World Cup in 1966.
Scotland is the only other home nation to have qualified for the tournament. Wales narrowly missed out on a place after losing to Poland in a penalty shootout in Cardiff last month.
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The UK government has previously pushed back pub closing times for royal weddings, the Queen’s 90th birthday in 2016, the World Cup in 2014 and the last Euro final in 2022.
Pub opening times were also extended during the King’s coronation weekend last year.
The legislation to enact the change will be laid in parliament on Wednesday to ensure there is enough time for it to be debated and passed before the tournament begins.
A Scottish government spokesperson said it was up to local licensing boards whether or not to allow pubs to extend their opening hours.
UK
‘It is too late, our boys have gone’: Grieving parents tell Ofcom to ‘step up’ over social media content
Social media platforms must do more to stop their algorithms from recommending harmful content to children, Ofcom has said.
The regulator has published its draft children’s safety codes of practice laying out the new standards it will expect tech giants to follow to protect children under the Online Safety Act.
But two mothers who believe their children died as a result of copying dangerous social media challenges say they feel “belittled” by Ofcom over its failure to listen to grieving parents.
Sky News has spoken to the mothers of Archie Battersbee, who died aged 12 after a “prank or experiment” went wrong at their home and Isaac Kenevan, 13, who is believed to have died after taking part in a choke challenge on social media.
Archie Battersbee died aged 12. Pic: Family handout/PA
“They should be listening to us as bereaved parents,” said Isaac’s mother Lisa.
“Ofcom have got the power, the policing, and we feel like we’ve been belittled, they’ve said certain things but there’s just no action at the moment.”
Archie’s mother Hollie said: “I’ve seen a handful of parents that are now going through what we’re going through and it’s heartbreaking… in a civilised society, this should not happen.”
When the government passed the Online Safety Act last October, it came with new enforcement powers for Ofcom.
Both Hollie and Lisa campaigned tirelessly to get the bill passed and both are frustrated by how painfully slow the process is proving to be.
Ms Kenevan said: “This law has been put in place but nothing has really changed, which is frustrating for us, it’s almost like an insult to us because we’ve put in so much work.
“It is too late, our boys have gone… but Ofcom should really step up and hold their feet to the fire… step in fast to stop the content being in there in the first place.”
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Taming algorithms
Ofcom’s draft code of conduct includes robust age checks, improved complaints procedures and a commitment from social media platforms to take action to tame algorithms which recommend harmful content to children.
Fail and they could in theory be fined 10% of their global turnover.
Ofcom chief executive Dame Melanie Dawes told Sky News: “In less than a year, we will be able to enforce against these codes and what I’m saying to the tech industry today is don’t wait for that moment.
“Over the next few years, we will see that change and we are going to drive it forward with every possible tool that we’ve got.”
‘Big step change for the industry’
Ofcom denies excluding people from its consultations, insisting victim groups and bereaved families have been among the 15,000 children and 7,000 parents it has already spoken to.
Dame Melanie said: “Those families who’ve lost children through what’s happened to them online, we ask them please do carry on working with us.
“What we’re proposing today is such a big step change for the industry, please work with us and talk to us, so that we can get this right.”
For the parents of Archie and Isaac, ever-present is the dread over how many children remain at risk.
Ms Kenevan said: “While these laws are trying to be put in place unfortunately there are more and more children dying and that’s the most frustrating thing because we’re in a club that we don’t want to be in and we don’t want anyone else joining that club.”
Meanwhile, Brianna Ghey’s mother Esther has told Sky News that mobile phone companies must “take responsibility” for what children view online.
Esther Ghey has campaigned for greater regulation for mobile phone companies, as well as young people’s access to mindfulness therapies, since two teenagers – Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe – were jailed in February for 22 and 20 years respectively for the “exceptionally brutal” murder of 16-year-old Brianna in Warrington.
Ms Ghey said: “It would be great if we could have, at point of purchase, software that helps parents monitor what their children are doing.
“There is software out that can flag up concerning words and then that alerts the parents that the child is looking at self-harm images or searching on the extreme side of it, the things that Scarlett Jenkinson was searching.”
“The parent can then be responsible for their child and do something about it,” Ms Ghey said, who has started a petition in support of her campaign.
Watch the full interview with Esther Ghey on The UK Tonight on Sky News at 8pm on Wednesday.
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