THE Sussex camp were branded “huge hypocrites” yesterday over a dig at Kate’s photo-editing, as they claimed: “This isn’t a mistake Meghan would ever make.”
The surprise outburst from the couple’s allies comes as The Sun can reveal a previous Valentine’s Day image shared to mark Meghan’s pregnancy with Lilibet was heavily doctored.
A different backdrop including a giant willow tree was added in 2021 by their photographer friend Misan Harriman, who later admitted: “It’s amazing what you can do with technology.”
The pair have also come under suspicion over other alleged edits, including a Christmas card put on a “kill list” by a photo agency while Harry was apparently afforded more hair in others.
The Princess of Wales apologised for editing her Mother’s Day family photo, with trolls and conspiracy theorists attacking her while she is recuperating from abdominal surgery.
A source close to the Sussexes waded into the storm yesterday, saying: “If Harry and Meghan had ever encountered the same issue they would have been annihilated.
“The same rules do not apply to both couples. This isn’t a mistake that Meghan would ever make. She has a keen eye and freakish attention to detail.”
The source was quoted by The New York Post’s well-respected showbiz column Page Six.
It comes despite Harriman confirming in 2022 that edits were made to the couple’s official photo, said to have been taken under a huge tree in the Sussexes’ garden in Montecito, California.
He was asked on BBC Radio 3 podcast Private Passions: “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?”
“The photographer replied: “Hmm, yeah,” adding: “It really was a particularly joyous image to celebrate life itself.”
Like Kate’s photo, the Sussexes’ black and white snap was shared around the world with no indication it had been digitally altered.
The latest twist sparked anger from royal watchers.
Harry’s biographer Angela Levin said last night: “The Sussexes’ camp are huge hypocrites.
“A tree was doctored in their photograph to create a special backdrop so how dare their camp say anything about Catherine’s?”
This isn’t a mistake that Meghan would ever make
Source close to the Sussexes
The row comes amid hurtful speculation about Kate’s health.
Ms Levin added: “The criticism of Catherine has been entirely unfair.
“She is loved and an important part of the Royal Family and before this has never put a foot wrong compared to other people.”
Editing rumours have also surrounded at least three different glossy magazine photoshoots of Harry and Meghan.
The pair’s Time Magazine cover in 2021 was branded by one critic as “the most airbrushed photo I have ever seen”.
Another joked: “How nice they gave Haz lots of new hair. Maybe he is a hair-growth influencer.”
Harry was also mocked over a People Magazine cover to promote gripe-ridden autobiography Spare last year.
The Duke’s sun-kissed skin, vivid eyes, and longer locks left many readers wondering if it had been touched up.
One posted: “Great work in the graphics department. He totally looks like a man who’s not bald in the middle.”
The Sussexes’ camp are huge hypocrites
Harry’s biographer Angela Levin
Before her own People cover in 2017, Meghan revealed she had instructed snapper Peter Lindbergh to leave in her freckles during the airbrushing process.
Royal Photoshop fails over the years
KATE’S Mother’s Day picture isn’t the first time the royals have found themselves caught up in editing fails.
Christmas 2023
Prince Louis appeared to be missing a finger in the Wales’ latest Christmas card.
Fans also spotted another odd detail in the photo, saying that Prince William’s leg appeared to be missing.
The late Queen’s hand retouch
A portrait of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip appeared to have been Photo-shopped.
There is something odd about the monarch’s clasped hands in the picture, which was put out a couple of years before she died in September 2022.
Eagle-eyed royal fans spotted an odd dark outline around the edge of the Queen’s right hand, which they claimed suggested it had been cut in from an alternative image.
‘Zombie’ Kate
An image of the Princess of Wales was used on the front of Australian publication Woman’s Day.
It looks like someone touched up the photo of Kate’s face ahead of the birth of Prince Louis in 2018.
Cosmpolitan magazine subsequently penned a scathing review, referring to the airbrushing as “creepy zombie photoshopping”.
Wills’ bald spot
Vanity Fair was accused of thickening Prince William’s hair during a shoot after the birth of George.
In response the publication insisted it had simply added more colours to make the photo look more “vibrant”.
George edits
US weekly changed George’s appearance while he was still a baby.
The second-in-line to the throne gained greener eyes, pinker lips, more colourful hair and chubbier cheeks when he appeared on the cover of the publication in 2014.
Smaller waist
The Press Complaints Commission was called in when Grazia magazine edited a snap of Princess Kate on her wedding day in 2011 to make her waist look slimmer.
The publication admitted altering the photo, but claimed it was an inadvertent error when they cut her husband William out of the image.
She said: “To this day, my pet peeve is when my skin tone is changed and my freckles are airbrushed out of a photoshoot.”
Yesterday the magazines were all asked which editing processes were used, but none responded.
Last year Harry appeared with a full head of thick, darker hair in portraits for coaching platform BetterUp, where he serves as “Chief Impact Officer”.
Agency photos taken just days later from a conference in Tokyo showed significant bald patches.
His headshot has since been changed on the US firm’s website.
Harry and Meghan were also accused of changing parts of their 2019 Christmas and New Year card in post-production.
It was claimed the snap – of Harry, Meghan and baby son Archie – was edited to make the Duchess’s face look clearer.
Experts also suggested her appearance may have been copied from another photo, with Harry and Meghan’s bodies seemingly out of focus.
The card, sent to hundreds of their friends, was hit with its own “kill notice” by the Press Association agency — similar to Kate’s on Sunday night.
However, it is understood the recall was because of uncertainty as to where it had come from.
The couple’s representatives later confirmed its authenticity, and any editing was denied by Meghan’s pal Janina Gavankar.
It is not suggested Harry and Meghan personally edited any of the photos.
Last night an official spokesman for the couple denied making any comment about Kate’s picture.
Meanwhile, Kate’s hubby Prince William is to attend the 25th anniversary of the Diana Legacy Awards at London’s Science Museum tomorrow.
WHY WERE ‘KILL NOTICES’ ISSUED?
News agencies ordered a “kill notice” on the picture late Sunday night.
The removal orders were sent after “manipulation” on the image was discovered.
AP’s order said the reason for killing the story was: “At closer inspection it appears that the source has manipulated the image.”
The order then directs those who have used the photo to remove it from all platforms, including social.
Agence France-Press ordered the “mandatory kill” due to an “editorial issue” and directed that the image may no longer be used.
Reuters said the photo “has been withdrawn following a post publication review.”
Getty Images said: “For editorial reasons, please remove the following image(s) from your system and do not use in any manner.”
Getty said its picture desk “identified a problematic image” provided by the palace and removed it from its site “in accordance with our editorial policy.”
PA said: “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.”
Each of the news agencies have their own editorial guidelines which govern how they treat images.
AP says that pictures “must always tell the truth” and that it does not alter or manipulate the content of a photograph in any way.
Its guidelines say: “The content of a photograph must not be altered in PhotoShop or by any other means. No element should be digitally added to or subtracted from any photograph.”
However, AP says minor adjustments are allowed, they include cropping, colour adjustments, and light adjustments.
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
