Piers Morgan called on Kensington Palace to release the original photo of Kate Middleton after the AP retracted an image she acknowledged that she had “manipulated.”
The British talk show host on Monday took to X and said “the Palace should release the unedited photo of Kate [Middleton] & the kids ASAP.”
“If it’s just a small bit of harmless retouching gone wrong, nobody will care,” he added. “If they don’t release the original pic, the conspiracy theories they were trying to kill, will get way worse.”
In a follow-up post, Morgan responded to a Daily Mail headline that read, “Kate reveals SHE edited Mother’s Day portrait – as she apologizes ‘for any confusion the family photograph caused’ after Britain’s most respected picture agency became the SIXTH to issue a ‘kill notice’ on the ‘manipulated image.'”
The Palace should release the unedited photo of Kate & the kids asap. If it’s just a small bit of harmless retouching gone wrong, nobody will care. If they don’t release the original pic, the conspiracy theories they were trying to kill, will get way worse..
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) March 11, 2024
“OK, but the only way to quell the conspiracy theories is to release the original pic,” the talk show host wrote.
On Sunday, the royal palace released a family photo of Middleton sitting in a chair surrounded by her and Prince William’s three children in honor of Mother’s Day in the U.K. It came after the Princess of Wales underwent abdominal surgery in January and has been missing from public events since, sparking conspiracy theories.
The post read, “Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months. Wishing everyone a Happy Mother’s Day. C The Prince of Wales, 2024.”
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Shortly after the photo appeared in numerous outlets, the Associated Press issued what was called a “kill notification” on the image, as previously reported.
“AP initially published the photo, which was issued by Kensington Palace. But AP later retracted the image because at closer inspection, it appeared the source had manipulated the image in a way that did not meet AP’s photo standards,” the agency wrote. “The photo shows an inconsistency in the alignment of Princess Charlotte’s left hand.”
On Monday, the palace admitted the photo had been edited. A message from Middleton on X read, “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.”
After Middleton’s post, Morgan wrote again, asking, “Can we see the original?”
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In January, Kensington Palace released a statement about the Princess of Wales remaining in the hospital for up to two weeks before being released to continue her recovery at home. At the time, the statement said she would not return to her royal public duties until after Easter.
The Prince and Princess of Wales have three children: Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.
Related: Palace Hits Back At Rumors And Conspiracy Theories Around Kate Middleton’s Absence