AFP deems Kensington Palace unreliable source after Mother's Day photo: 'There’s a question of trust'

Princess Kate underwent planned abdominal surgery in January 2024. Kensington Palace announced that the surgery was successful and was not cancer-related. They said the Princess of Wales will not be returning to royal duties until after Easter. The spokesperson for Princess Kate also added that they would not be giving updates unless it was absolutely necessary.

However, things have been blown out of proportion and there are several rumours concerning Princess Kate. The rumours got so out of hand that Kensington Palace released a second statement reiterating that the Princess of Wales was doing fine.

Sadly, more rumours were sparked over the weekend as Princess Kate shared a photo for Mother’s Day, March 10.

Due to the photo, Kensington Palace has been dubbed unreliable. Here’s what’s happening.

Princess Kate’s photoshopped Mother’s Day photo

March 10 was Mother’s Day in the UK and as usual, Princess Kate shared a photo of herself with her three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. However, the photo sparked a controversy on the internet and some believed the photo was made by AI.

As a result, the Princess of Wales shared a statement on Instagram that ‘like many amateur photographers’ she had edited the photo and apologised for ‘any confusion’.

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. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day. C

However, even with the explanation from Princess Kate, who will be missing a key event on Sunday 17 March, Kensington Palace have been labelled unreliable by some.

AFP claims Kensington Palace are no longer a trusted source

As reported by Daily Mail, Phil Chetwynd, the global news director of Agence France-Presse (AFP), explained that due to the Mother’s Day photo mishap, Kensington Palace can no longer be considered a trusted source.

Phil Chetwynd told Media Show when asked if they considered the institution a trusted source:

No, absolutely not. Like with anything, when you’re let down by a source the bar is raised.

Indeed, the Mother’s Day photo shared by Princess Kate, is also believed to have been a way to satisfy the public with her health, as well as be her typical photo for the special day.

Chetwynd added that the AFP teams have been told to be ‘more vigilant’ with any information coming to them, even from sources that are usually trusted:

We sent out notes to all our teams at the moment to be absolutely super more vigilant about the content coming across our desk — even from what we would call trusted sources.

As per Deadline, Chetwynd went on to explain that there is already a lack of trust from the public, and as such, the Palace has to be careful and ‘cannot be distorting reality for the public 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.

Read more:

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⋙ King Charles: Buckingham Palace investigating fake books sold on Amazon about the monarch’s health

⋙ Living Nostradamus makes claims about Kate Middleton: 'Essential that she takes care of her mental health'

Sources used:

Daily Mail: ‘World's media mocks Britain's royals: Foreign news agency boss compares Kensington Palace to North Korea as chat shows and cartoons target the monarchy in 'despicable' attacks after its Photoshop 'PR disaster'

Deadline: ‘Kate Middleton Doctored Photo: AFP Says Kensington Palace No Longer A “Trusted Source” & Kill Notices Usually Reserved For North Korea’