Princess Kate and Prince William found the reaction to a royal scandal “extremely disproportionate”, a royal insider has claimed.

After releasing a photo of Kate and their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, for Mother’s Day, it was revealed the image had been manipulated.


A royal biographer has subsequently revealed how the Prince and Princess of Wales felt when the general public reacted negatively towards their photo.

Robert Hardman’s book, Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story, has been serialised in The Mail, with the royal author dishing on Kate and William’s Photoshop scandal.

Princess Kate and Prince William

Princess Kate and Prince William found reaction to royal scandal ‘extremely disproportionate’

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A Palace employee told Hardman: “Anything written or said about the Princess of Wales at that point was at fever pitch and front page news.”

At the time, the photograph was pulled from multiple photo agencies due to being edited.

The source added: “It also spoke to the nervousness of the photography industry around AI and their future.

“Even so, the reaction seemed extremely disproportionate.”

The Wales family

The future Queen issued an apology for the Photoshop blunders

Kensington Palace/ X

Princess Kate only had good intentions when she initially released the image, according to the insider.

They continued: “As far as the princess was concerned… this had just been a mother deciding to share a personal picture of her and her children on Mother’s Day to bring some joy to the nation.”

The Prince and Princess of Wales took responsibility for the image, as they have involvement in what Kensington Palace posts on social media.

As the staff member told Hardman: “The Prince and Princess have agency in everything… They are the final decision-makers.”

Kate Middleton

Princess Kate’s apology came less than an hour after PA confirmed they had removed the photo

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Kate Middleton

Shortly after the scandal, Princess Kate announced in March she had been diagnosed with cancer

Kensington Palace

At the time, Princess Kate shared a heartfelt apology regarding the edited photo.

She explained: “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.”

She signed off the message, writing: “I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day.”

Reports at the time suggested the Princess of Wales felt “awful” over the debacle.