All eyes are on Kensington Palace, with many confused by Kate Middleton’s whereabouts. The wife of Prince William has not made an official public appearance since Christmas Day. On January 16, the palace stated that she had been admitted to the London Clinic for “planned abdominal surgery.”
© GettyImagesWith jokes, conspiracies, and discourse taking over social media surrounding the situation, things got more confusing on March 10th when the Prince and Princess of Wales social media accounts shared a photo of her with their children George, Charlotte, and Louis.
© @princeandprincessofwalesThings quickly went awry when people noticed it was edited. When the Associated Press and other photo agencies issued “kill notices,” because the image appeared to have been manipulated, it added fuel to the fire.
The next day, on March 11, another tweet came from the account, signed off by Kate, admitting it was edited, apologizing. “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” it read.
© @princeandprincessofwalesThe apology has sparked even more debate, fueling conspiracy theories, but there is one person who is not concerned, Whoopi Goldberg. For “The View” host, she says she doesn’t see a difference between editing photos and adding a filter, which is a common practice.
“I’m sorry, I know very few people who don’t manipulate their own photos. I mean all you gotta do is swipe. Those editors swipe, God knows people look how those photos look,” Goldberg said on Monday’s episode.
After Sara Haines said there’s a difference between filters and Photoshop, Goldberg argued, “She’s doing the same thing, she’s doing the same thing!” “You know what, I have to tell you, she may be the future queen, she’s still an amateur photographer,” Goldberg said.
Following the apology, Kensington Palace said it would not be reissuing the original unedited photograph. Kate was later photographed sitting next to William in a chauffeured car leaving Windsor Castle. The side of her face was visible.
