Battle of Hastings was 950 years ago (give or take).
For anyone currently alive, assume their ancestors had babies at the average age of 25. Battle of Hastings was therefore ~38 generations ago.
Your parents had 2 parents each (so 4 grandparents), who had 2 parents each (so 8 great grandparents) and so on.
Assuming no incest, you had 137,438,953,472 ancestors alive at the time of the Battle of Hastings. Only 80 billion people have ever been born in the history of earth.
Which is to say two things:
- Just on numbers alone, everybody of European descent probably has 1+ ancestor (out of billions) who was in the Battle of Hastings.
and
- A lot of cousin fucking went on since then.
Yes, but 1. Was it someone important at the battle of hastings.
And 2. Does your family keep excellent records to prove they were important at the battle of hastings?
Every family is equally old, some just keep better records.
I like this one from Peter the Rabbit:
Thomas McGregor : You're promoting a flagrantly unqualified half-wit to a position of immense importance, based purely on nepotism.
General Manager : This is Great Britain. It's practically written in our charter.
I’ve heard this too. Brother-in-law used to work for one of the big worldwide distribution companies. His role was to liaise with the individuals managing contracts for government procurement.
Said individuals were in many cases far too young to have garnered any real role experience in the gap between the end of their education and starting as a government contractor, and in all cases so disinterested in their role that he would often do their job for them while they collected their bonuses and sent screencaps of their LinkedIn pages to their tinder matches.
Of course, this is all just anecdotal. I’m sure the government officials responsible for vetting these people value the best interests of the country over their interpersonal relationships with their wealthy donors.
Reminds me of some corporate environments.
I'm fortunate that in my field the issue is more "investors pick a researcher and plop him in a C-suite position". Like sure, he probably has no actual corporate leadership experience, but researchers in general are at least somewhat familiar with the concept of relying on the expertise of others. And they at least have the life experience of having been good at *something*.
>Like sure, he probably has no actual corporate leadership experience, but researchers in general are at least somewhat familiar with the concept of relying on the expertise of others.
Either that, or they're the kind of researcher that assumes "I'm an expert in European Swallow mating calls when under a quarter moon in August" also means "I am an expert in everything".
One of Australia's worst prime ministers, Tony Abbott, got given a job out of high school or university as a boss of a concrete plant or similar, and drove the workers to striking, which he was super proud of for being so hard on them.
Naturally he was a lifelong conservative with no real work experience, who got driven out of the priesthood because they wanted him to see a psychiatrist about possibly being a sociopath and being disgusted by helping the poor instead of fighting the church's enemies (which he boasted about, it was his own writing from which we know all this)
You just described how the entire world functions.
The rich hire their rich friends kids and they don’t care how stupid or unqualified they are. The rich stay rich.
The same reason why people like the TV show Succession - it's interesting to watch people in power struggle, especially if the struggle is with their power itself (i.e. the power to control the press narratives, etc)
People don’t, but news agencies do. Particularly ones like Associated Press. They rely on a reputation of no photo manipulation allowed. It’s easier to have a blanket ban on excessive photoshop than try to draw a line between news where truth matters and where it doesn’t.
I agree this is a case where it really shouldn’t matter. It’s just a publicity shot of a family - it’s not trying to be used as evidence for anything. But I can appreciate news outlets taking a hard stance.
I thought that was odd in the scheme of things, too. I can't believe it wasn't blamed on some royal employee. Have Kate take the blame is super sus to me. I don't follow unless there's "big news" things like this happening, but I was under the impression that none of them are to be seen as "relatable" and never take blame for anything. With that notion in my head, this sets off alarm bells that something is up and Kate is about to be on the outs. OR, pr has just becoe crappy now that the OG queen is gone.
According to Sky News analysis of the photo's metadata, "it was taken on a Canon 5D mark IV, which retails at £2,929.99 and used a Canon 50mm lens, which is priced at £1,629.99. The image had been saved in photo editing software Adobe Photoshop twice on an Apple Mac at 9.54pm on Friday night, with the second at 9.39am on Saturday morning."
EDIT: Quote marks and punctuation
Finish day shoot, take it home, do some edits, send to client at night, get feedback overnight and make a few final edits in the morning and then end, send final version. Sounds normal.
yeah, but a few poorly-done final edits, and edits that led to all of *this*. why the need to rush a picture for the holiday if they're supposed to have an elite team of handlers?
I'm just over here with popcorn, enjoying the newest momentary chaos, but even if it's ultimately benign, the situation is kind of unpolished for an institution that's meant to represent the highest echelons of class and taste. my goodness, a pallet of mountain dew and 500 quid to a couple of teenagers might've produced better results than *this.*
Exactly, they are more into PR than in running the country, there’s no way a Mother’s Day photo wouldn’t have been planned in advance. Like they knew it was coming. It’s inexplicable
Well she does have an interest in photography and often takes the photographs that are released of her family. It's not a stretch that she would also try her hand at editing.
> and often takes the photographs that are released of her family
I never found these credits particularly plausible. Even less so when they credited yesterday’s to William.
Ah but they’re just like normal people you see. Wandered outside for a family photo like anyone else. Definitely don’t have hair stylists, make up artists, people to pick outfits, stage the area, setup lighting, pro photographers, political assistants to suggest what poses the commoners will most relate to etc.
And rich women often sit around all day with nothing to do.
I have no investment in this story, but I can believe that she dicks around on Photoshop sometimes because she’s bored.
Don't the new Google phones stitch people's heads from the best shot? I could swear I saw ads for that.
Found it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1N53ZOv-ak
This wouldn't even require dicking around on photoshop. I'm sure there's basic functionality on most high-end smart phones that could do this in about 45 seconds.
Shot compositing is ridiculously common to the point that Google Pixel has a built in algorithmic ("AI") tool called Best Take as an exclusive selling point of their current flagship the Pixel 8.
They're just buying time while her clone grows to full size and can be released into the public eye. The real Kate ran off with the gardener and is now living on a council estate in Leeds.
Kate has been in hospital and there are rumours that her condition is worse than officially stated.
This was the first photo released of her since and it has now come to light that it was manipulated, so it’s only adding to the rumours that her condition is being hidden from the public.
>Kate has been in hospital and there are rumours that her condition is worse than officially stated.
That seems silly even on the face of it... Why would they lie about her condition? It's not as if the government would fall apart or society would crumble if something happened to her.
I have learned the hard way to not change my hairstyle when I’m in a funk. Most of the times, I end up regretting the change within the next day if not earlier. Bangs don’t cure depression.
Could have been a bowel resection. Long recovery time and she would not feel good or want to be seen in public. Or anything where she'd have to wear a temporary colostomy bag. The poo jokes from meanspirited people would be neverending.
She had scheduled appointments canceled, this wasn't a face lift.
There are also pictures of an ambulance at the house on the 28th of December.
This is something more serious
This was where my head went to immediately. I’ve had that before, and yeah, it’s a long, long recovery. It’s miserable, it’s painful, it’s mentally draining, and you don’t want to go out in public.
Oh yeah, that was four years ago, so we’re good. Appreciate the sentiment though. It is just god awful, so I don’t blame them for just staying all sorts of private. I had the luxury of being a no-name and able to make all sorts of poop jokes. They don’t have that luxury, and I’m sure that sucks even more because it was a little cathartic for me.
Honestly I've currently got a temp one and it only sucked for the first couple weeks. Literally not had one joke or people treat me different.
Really depends on you and who you surround yourself with I guess.
If this is true - 1, I feel for her. It seems like a terrible thing to go through that is highly stigmatized (there is a gal on youtube that shares all the ins and outs of living with an ostomy and I applaud what she does). 2 though, it sure would be a good time to do some good. No need for a photo or video, but to say this is what she's going through and indeed does have something in common with the commoners. Once mentally ready (and maybe my suggestion is way too soon at this point), some real good can come of it. De-stigmatize it. Show that you can be beautiful with an ostomy. Show that you can be normal with an ostomy (or whatever illness is happening).
I'm not saying anyone is owed anything, but I always think wow - wouldn't it be such an amazing thing to be able to help others. Empower others with your winning spirit. No, commoners will never be the same, but it's nice to see someone who has similar battles as you when you are going through tough times.
Depends on if she had time to think things through beforehand or not. Given the timeline (she had public events that were cancelled) it seems whatever happened was emergent, despite them saying it was scheduled. If she had to go through a hard surgery with unpleasant recovery, I can see her not having the time to process it into "how can I use this to help others," especially when she has a dedicated army of vicious haters. (I myself am not a monarchist but whew the dehumanization of public figures bugs me.)
This is the same royal family that trots these women out in full makeup for a photo op 10 minutes after giving birth.
For them to hear all the rumors and not produce any actually public appearance (even if a staged sitting outside getting some fresh air) is… odd
It's just something the royal family does, they've been doing it for probably their entire existence, Queen Elizabeth II in particular was extremely private about health issues
It's why King Charles revealing his cancer diagnosis was kind of unusual
If it was something related to reproductive health they may be hiding it. Miscarriage. Ectopic pregnancy. Malformed with severe genetic disease needing later than Usual termimation
You have a lot to learn about the royal family.
But as an example; her and prince William had a massive fight and he pushed her down the stairs. She got seriously injured. This is one of the **conspiracy theories** (not what I'm claiming is true). And if something like that were to happen it would be a *big fucking deal* (imagine Joe Biden punching his wife. Then multiply it by ten)
I don't care either way about the royals but it seems far more likely that she just ill in a more complex way than the palace is ready to disclose. She's frequently been *very* thin in the past, her pregnancies were publicly admitted to have been extremely hard on her and she has never done anything like the level of public work which someone of her position would normally be expected to do. It's quite plausible that she has some kind of fairly serious chronic health condition which has worsened and everyone internally needs time to figure out how to manage it.
They said she had abdominal surgery. My guess is she's had a hysterectomy or other major plumbing work done and doesn't want the world to know. And fair enough! Trouble is you can't be cagey about stuff like that anymore as there's always people waiting for a chance to start a few juicy conspiracy theories.
Even a total hysterectomy wouldn’t account for 2 months in the hospital. There were probably complications during the surgery that cascaded. One very serious and relatively common issue during abdominal surgery is when bowel is accidentally cut. Then you have fecal contents leaking into your abdominal cavity which can turn into a very serious infection.
That’s typically what I’ve seen in the hospital when someone is kept longer than expected after abdominal surgery
She may have had work done that needed a colostomy bag, or something similarly debilitating, but my money's on treatment for an eating disorder -- that's something that requires longterm inpatient treatment.
I suspect the sensitivite part is *why* she had it. Someone in another thread suggested it might be due to an ectopic pregnancy in which case she would currently be dealing with a double whammy of grief, for the child she was carrying and for the loss of her ability to carry any more in the future. It would explain William's 'personal matter' and why she didn't feel up to a Mother's Day photoshoot.
>why she didn't feel up to a Mother's Day photoshoot
That would be emotionally devastating, I'd imagine. I know it's just speculation but your comment made me empathize with her and realize how wild it would be to be used for PR in the way she has been for so long.
If she had endometriosis a hysterectomy would make sense. And the endometriosis itself could explain her historical low work load for a working member of the Royal Family.
Yeah the royals have always been especially cagey about releasing any information unless they absolutely have to. However in the modern age it's becoming increasingly difficult for them to keep things from getting out. If this were 1950's or earlier we just wouldn't have heard about it at all. The newspapers would never have run the story without the royals permission and it wouldn't have been granted. That's no longer the case and the royals are struggling to adapt. Which is why we'll see more and more of these media blunders unless they change how they operate at a fundamental level. If they'd just released the truth from the beginning then it likely would have blown over within a few days. Instead we've got this mass hysteria with crazy conspiracy theories.
that stuff gets extra weird i'm sure too when your whole job is having royal babies. They are all members of an ancient institution where stuff like that still matters so having health problems related to fertility is seen as some kind of failure even if you didn't plan to have any more kids.
because there are a lot of rumors/conspiracies about her health (she hasn't been seen in public for quiet a while now). the manipulated photo is seen by some as evidence that the palace wants to hide something ...
Because the British royal family has a centuries-long history of honesty and transparency that is completely at odds with you know what I can’t finish this sentence.
In addition to the other conspiracies there's like 6 graphical weirdnesses in the photo (Charlotte's left hand, Louie's right shoulder, Kate's lack of wedding ring, white border behind Louie, Kate blurry right hand, some people say George teeth but I don't see it, I think maybe some others) that make it *really* clear this is weirdly edited.
They also all happen to be wearing the same clothes (with a sweater maybe thrown on or a change in color - that ones easy to edit) as they were in a video published by the PR team back in November/December. Rewears occasionally happen, but everyone in the same thing is more out of the norm
I guess kate hasn’t been seen for some time since she had a surgery. A photoshopped photo of her was posted and people are speculating that she’s received the diana treatment
I used to be a photographer. I bet I know what’s happening. They probably couldn’t get one perfect group picture and started combining the good pictures of each person into one group photo.
The associated press "killed" the story and banned the use of it's picture online and through social media for anybody affiliated with them.
https://news.sky.com/story/picture-agencies-pull-kate-photo-amid-manipulation-concerns-13092352
Hopefully this link isn't dead.
I'm guessing because 4 news agencies ordered the image to be killed (i.e taken off distribution): [https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-68526972](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-68526972)
Not releasing the unmanipulated photo with this statement makes it seem that much more suspicious.
Say her health problem was way worse than what they’re letting on. Fine. What related to that would they have even been covering up here?
Likely the edits had nothing to do with that even, but it still makes this whole scenario weirder.
E: saw a theory in another thread (ha…or right below this) that it was probably multiple shots edited together, basically the “best” shot of each kid. Which totally makes sense. Why not just release a statement saying “hey little kids of that age are hard to get to sit still, so we edited together the best shots.”
Then release some “outtakes” of the shoot that shows the kids trying to get away, not looking at the camera, having their finger in their nose; whatever actually happened. That would be fun and relatable.
They aren't that young.
I have 5 kids, who have not been being trained for photo opa their whole life and I can get an image that wouldn't require this level of change. AND I am a chronic picture blinker.
That said, it could have been a bad day or something, but at this point, I think it could go a long way to release those pictures right now.
Parents would seriously relate to a series of "Welcome to why I had to do this to that picture" pictures. It would make the public feel slightly sorry for her to sit through that ordeal with her kids while not feeling 100%.
But, more than likely, the series of photos doesn't exist.
I've been a professional photo editor for over 15 years and it was definitely a photo composite of the best sections of each photo, just like you suggested. I'd go as far as to say over 50% of all professional photos like this that you see are composites. Lots of telltale signs in this photo with the blurred masks. Some of it came off lazy (like the tiles on the ground... very east to line that up right) but the texture of fabric is always a challenge to blend because your eye picks up on repeating patterns so easily. This was a job done by somebody that is not at the professional level of image compositing because when it's done right you really can't tell.
I've seen this whole, "kids can't sit still for a photo," thing a few times now. The people saying this do not have kids. Kids this age, can absolutely sit still for photos. Even poorly behaved children this age can sit still for long enough to take a few pictures. If these kids were toddlers and younger, there would be an argument to be made.
This whole conspiracy thing is fascinating to me.
I feel like she/they could end all the speculation by just......releasing a little 10 second video.
"Hi guys. I'm still alive, lol"
???
Just release an unedited version then. By all means colour correct, or simple things, but just release one of the source pictures.
It's likely they just combined the best takes of each person, not a big deal. Easy to explain and dispell rumours.
If they release the unedited photo, people might realize it's actually from a photoshoot that was done back before Christmas.
She's wearing the exact same outfit as in this video released in December, but the sweater was changed from white to black. Charlotte's very frilly red neckline is also the same, but she's now got a cardigan on top. Louis' sweater definitely looks 'shopped in the new pic, but George's just looks like they darkened it to be more blue. The shoes Kate and Charlotte are wearing also match. Plus, you don't wear tight jeans when you're recovering from abdominal surgery.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvwLS2nGdO4
This is the best theory I’ve seen. It makes a lot more sense then just editing a few takes together. Would the trees have looked like that back in December?
There was someone in r/photoshop saying that foliage looks like from late-autumn, here's their [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/photoshop/comments/1bboc68/comment/kucg3ab/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button). Can't comment on that, as I'm from Baltic States, we lose all leaves in late October already.
Whole thread is quite interesting as well, as people there have experience with the software and making rather more intricate guesses / explanations how photo was made. So far it seems, it's few separate photos stitched together in an amateur manner, missing a ton of spots - say, because kids couldn't stand still and photographer could've been pressured into making a "pretty" photo. Once again, that's just guesses :D
This dumbass saga has been incredible to watch. Why, if she's so sick, is she being forced into the spotlight? And why can't they just say that she's really sick and needs time to recover? People get fucking sick all the time, it's normal
lmao this is incredible. Are we really to believe that the photos were taken by Kate and not a photographer employed by the royal family, and that she then sat at her computer and edited the photos herself?
The official statement is that Prince William took the photo. So it makes it doubly weird that they're putting the blame in Catherine for editing it 😮💨
I didn't know, and certainly wouldn't care, that a royal was keeping off camera after a hospital visit. But for them to be sending out fake photos and lying about them? Now THAT suddenly makes it interesting.
It’s been about two months since surgery.
Abdominal surgery takes 6-8 weeks to fully recover from, barring any complication or infection, in which case that timeline is longer. During recovery, you feel like moving as little as possible, because it’s uncomfortable at best, excruciating at worst.
Plus, she probably has lost weight, her skin probably doesn't look the best, and she probably just shouldn't have been made to feel like she had to release a photo like that.
But that's part of the drama.
The fact that only authorized photos are allowed, with the palace having the ability to enforce those privacy concerns, gives credence to the idea that all that shit that was published by the royal press pool all the other times was de facto greenlit.
It's like damn yall really didn't like that other woman huh? Cause tabloids went buck wild on her and there wasn't a peep from the palace.
As someone who doesn't give a fuck about the royal family and didn't care about any of this drama until like 3 days ago, it's unbelievable how bad they are at making all of this seem like no big deal. I get more invested with every update. If they would've never addressed it, I would've never even noticed anything was happening.
Ahhhhh yes, the woman recovering from surgery, who hasn’t been seen in public since Christmas, issued that photo showing her bent forward in the chair looking totally fine and ALSO has been messing with Photoshop on purpose, and this is definitely her behind the Twitter taking full responsibility instead of anyone else. Mmmmkay.
I mean it was kind of a weird photo, but people saying that the children were trying to transmit secret messages with their crossed fingers was a bit over the top
Look you can’t expect the (checks notes) Princess of Wales to have a PR person or a staff photographer who cleans up images for them.
What could be happening that is SO TERRIBLE that people won’t go “oh no poor Kate” and they have to fuck it up this bad.
I get why this has become a bit of a meme, but does anyone else feel a bit weird about all the constant speculation? Some say she’s seriously ill, some say she’s had a nervous breakdown, some say she was assaulted by William, or that she has an eating disorder etc. I’m not a monarchist, but why can’t her health just be her business and why are people so obsessed with this?
The harmless stuff doesn’t bother me - the memes about her being at the wonka experience for example. But all the baseless but genuine speculation just seems kinda pathetic and weird, like the people who care about the love lives of the Kardashians or some shit. Get a better hobby.
Basically, Kate's clothes in the photo match the outfit that she wore to an event in November 2023, but the color of the sweater is navy instead of white/cream that she wore at the event. The sweater designer did not make a navy version. Everything else Kate is wearing matches that event exactly, like the jeans and shoes.
Additionally, George's sweater matches the same event except for the shirt underneath, and it looks like they just filled in the white with blue. For Charlotte, at the same event in 11/2023, she was wearing a red sweater with a unique neckline, and the photo has the same neckline, but her skirt is different. However, the edits are so bad on the skirt in the released photo. You can tell they put it over what was originally in the photo. It was one of the major tells that it was altered.
So it looks like allegedly, they used an old photo and lied about when it was taken? Why? Why can't they get a new photograph of Kate.
Finally, the paparazzi photo of her in the car with her mom that came out a week or so ago was also altered. At the bottom of the photo, three wheels are on one side of the car vs. two on the other. So why are all of Kate's photos being altered? of her mom or kids visiting the hospital and only one visit from William when she was supposedly pretty badly off.
Editing to credit the Tiktok creator who did the research on the outfits for the photo: "@allynaston"
Additionally, a paragraph was missing from the original comment. There were photos on twitter of a motorcade leaving Kate's residence on Dec 28 and going to the hospital. The palace did not release a statement at that time. Instead, they made an announcement weeks later about a "scheduled" surgery and said that the recovery time would be for a long time. Then Kate's mom, who's normally always around, was never seen visiting her at the hospital and neither were the children. For a multi-week stay, William only visited ONCE. Then, when Kate was discharged, there were no photos of her leaving the hospital. And this is a woman who was photographed hours after giving birth.
I feel like this is an SNL skit
How are these PR people so bad at this
I’ve heard that they don’t really find people actually competent. They just hire rich kids of their friends.
Its completely not surprising that they have a lot of nepotism with the monarchy...
I imagine the application for a job at the palace has only one question.. "which relative told you about this position?"
"Which ancestor of yours was at the Battle of Hastings?"
Battle of Hastings was 950 years ago (give or take). For anyone currently alive, assume their ancestors had babies at the average age of 25. Battle of Hastings was therefore ~38 generations ago. Your parents had 2 parents each (so 4 grandparents), who had 2 parents each (so 8 great grandparents) and so on. Assuming no incest, you had 137,438,953,472 ancestors alive at the time of the Battle of Hastings. Only 80 billion people have ever been born in the history of earth. Which is to say two things: - Just on numbers alone, everybody of European descent probably has 1+ ancestor (out of billions) who was in the Battle of Hastings. and - A lot of cousin fucking went on since then.
> Assuming no incest Hey. We're talking about nobles here.
Yes, but 1. Was it someone important at the battle of hastings. And 2. Does your family keep excellent records to prove they were important at the battle of hastings? Every family is equally old, some just keep better records.
Hey, are first cousins considered family now? Oh. Wait they always have. Sorry about that.
No reverse cowgirl. You don't turn your back on family.
They did the math
Oh its third cousin Ritchie.. His Highness *does not* care for him.
I like this one from Peter the Rabbit: Thomas McGregor : You're promoting a flagrantly unqualified half-wit to a position of immense importance, based purely on nepotism. General Manager : This is Great Britain. It's practically written in our charter.
It's nepo babies all the way down. And up.
100%. Monarchy is the ultimate nepo-grift.
I’ve heard this too. Brother-in-law used to work for one of the big worldwide distribution companies. His role was to liaise with the individuals managing contracts for government procurement. Said individuals were in many cases far too young to have garnered any real role experience in the gap between the end of their education and starting as a government contractor, and in all cases so disinterested in their role that he would often do their job for them while they collected their bonuses and sent screencaps of their LinkedIn pages to their tinder matches. Of course, this is all just anecdotal. I’m sure the government officials responsible for vetting these people value the best interests of the country over their interpersonal relationships with their wealthy donors.
Reminds me of some corporate environments. I'm fortunate that in my field the issue is more "investors pick a researcher and plop him in a C-suite position". Like sure, he probably has no actual corporate leadership experience, but researchers in general are at least somewhat familiar with the concept of relying on the expertise of others. And they at least have the life experience of having been good at *something*.
>Like sure, he probably has no actual corporate leadership experience, but researchers in general are at least somewhat familiar with the concept of relying on the expertise of others. Either that, or they're the kind of researcher that assumes "I'm an expert in European Swallow mating calls when under a quarter moon in August" also means "I am an expert in everything".
Definitely met a few of those, haha. Thankfully they are the minority.
One of Australia's worst prime ministers, Tony Abbott, got given a job out of high school or university as a boss of a concrete plant or similar, and drove the workers to striking, which he was super proud of for being so hard on them. Naturally he was a lifelong conservative with no real work experience, who got driven out of the priesthood because they wanted him to see a psychiatrist about possibly being a sociopath and being disgusted by helping the poor instead of fighting the church's enemies (which he boasted about, it was his own writing from which we know all this)
lol when the church is trying to get you to see a shrink you know you’re fucked
“This motherfucker need more than Jesus.”
I knew he was awful even from over here, but genuinely wtf
You just described how the entire world functions. The rich hire their rich friends kids and they don’t care how stupid or unqualified they are. The rich stay rich.
This is true, a girl I know was the Instagram manager for the Vatican and her only qualification was being some cardnial's great niece
There ought to be a word for what you’re describing. Too bad all the words are already taken.
They are experimenting with PR
Kinda feels like the royal family *invented* PR, tbh.
idk, I think it's great. If I were royal, I would never post a raw photo ever again. Let them guess forever and leave me alone.
Not paying them keeps the overhead low
I still don't get why anyone cares
Because people love conspiracy and this one is writing itself.
The same reason why people like the TV show Succession - it's interesting to watch people in power struggle, especially if the struggle is with their power itself (i.e. the power to control the press narratives, etc)
People don’t, but news agencies do. Particularly ones like Associated Press. They rely on a reputation of no photo manipulation allowed. It’s easier to have a blanket ban on excessive photoshop than try to draw a line between news where truth matters and where it doesn’t. I agree this is a case where it really shouldn’t matter. It’s just a publicity shot of a family - it’s not trying to be used as evidence for anything. But I can appreciate news outlets taking a hard stance.
100% agree. I don't care in this particular case, but it's good to see photo manipulation protection in action.
Them throwing the missing lady under the bus is WILD
Shit's probably gonna hit the fan soon.
Just in time for the Crown to get its part 2.
The royals, historically, are fans of throwing women under vehicles, so this tracks
I thought that was odd in the scheme of things, too. I can't believe it wasn't blamed on some royal employee. Have Kate take the blame is super sus to me. I don't follow unless there's "big news" things like this happening, but I was under the impression that none of them are to be seen as "relatable" and never take blame for anything. With that notion in my head, this sets off alarm bells that something is up and Kate is about to be on the outs. OR, pr has just becoe crappy now that the OG queen is gone.
This is the funniest comment lol. Succinct.
It makes sense when you realize their job is to protect the heir (William) at all costs. Even above his wife.
They don't historically treat women who marry into that family very well
They need a better PR team. Contrast the way Kate’s medical situation was managed with the way King Charles’s was.
I think hers overshadowed his, and people really do care less about him
Who’s Charles?
Kate’s father in law
Lol, yeah, the royals edit their own pictures. Sat around an iPhone SE looking for free image editing apps.
It's a traditional royal pastime. Like hunting and quashing rebellions.
You left out incest.
Lots of inbreeding. " Why hello mother cousin, you look fetching today" "thank you father brother, how about we mess up the family tree some more?"
“Sister’s my new mother, mother!”
According to Sky News analysis of the photo's metadata, "it was taken on a Canon 5D mark IV, which retails at £2,929.99 and used a Canon 50mm lens, which is priced at £1,629.99. The image had been saved in photo editing software Adobe Photoshop twice on an Apple Mac at 9.54pm on Friday night, with the second at 9.39am on Saturday morning." EDIT: Quote marks and punctuation
Finish day shoot, take it home, do some edits, send to client at night, get feedback overnight and make a few final edits in the morning and then end, send final version. Sounds normal.
yeah, but a few poorly-done final edits, and edits that led to all of *this*. why the need to rush a picture for the holiday if they're supposed to have an elite team of handlers? I'm just over here with popcorn, enjoying the newest momentary chaos, but even if it's ultimately benign, the situation is kind of unpolished for an institution that's meant to represent the highest echelons of class and taste. my goodness, a pallet of mountain dew and 500 quid to a couple of teenagers might've produced better results than *this.*
Exactly, they are more into PR than in running the country, there’s no way a Mother’s Day photo wouldn’t have been planned in advance. Like they knew it was coming. It’s inexplicable
Considering the poor quality of the photoshop that’s more believable than a professional. But it’s still an odd choice.
Well she does have an interest in photography and often takes the photographs that are released of her family. It's not a stretch that she would also try her hand at editing.
> and often takes the photographs that are released of her family I never found these credits particularly plausible. Even less so when they credited yesterday’s to William.
Ah but they’re just like normal people you see. Wandered outside for a family photo like anyone else. Definitely don’t have hair stylists, make up artists, people to pick outfits, stage the area, setup lighting, pro photographers, political assistants to suggest what poses the commoners will most relate to etc.
“Edit” just means doing what every person on instagram does lol
I don’t manipulate the placement of my children’s likes on IG
You've never seen someone make a composite shot to get everyone's best look?
And rich women often sit around all day with nothing to do. I have no investment in this story, but I can believe that she dicks around on Photoshop sometimes because she’s bored.
Don't the new Google phones stitch people's heads from the best shot? I could swear I saw ads for that. Found it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1N53ZOv-ak
This wouldn't even require dicking around on photoshop. I'm sure there's basic functionality on most high-end smart phones that could do this in about 45 seconds.
Shot compositing is ridiculously common to the point that Google Pixel has a built in algorithmic ("AI") tool called Best Take as an exclusive selling point of their current flagship the Pixel 8.
They're just buying time while her clone grows to full size and can be released into the public eye. The real Kate ran off with the gardener and is now living on a council estate in Leeds.
I wish her joy. And beautiful topiaries.
She demanded a shrubbery.
I mean, wouldn’t you?
Can confirm, saw Kate in Seacroft this morning
This is the dankest timeline
Can someone explain why this photo is such a big deal?
Kate has been in hospital and there are rumours that her condition is worse than officially stated. This was the first photo released of her since and it has now come to light that it was manipulated, so it’s only adding to the rumours that her condition is being hidden from the public.
>Kate has been in hospital and there are rumours that her condition is worse than officially stated. That seems silly even on the face of it... Why would they lie about her condition? It's not as if the government would fall apart or society would crumble if something happened to her.
Unless it's a potentially embarrassing or stigmatized condition
The only thing they have claimed that it isn’t cancer
I like the theory that she got a BBL.
She could also be growing out bad bangs.
My wife said its a rite of passage for every woman so you might be right.
I have learned the hard way to not change my hairstyle when I’m in a funk. Most of the times, I end up regretting the change within the next day if not earlier. Bangs don’t cure depression.
I don't know what I'll do if Kate reappears caked up
God Save The Cheeks
Better than ‘let them eat cake’ hahahaha
Kate Biggerton, Badunkaduchess of Cambridge
Comes out thicker than Megan the stallion
British Butt Lift?
That's when you remove all the fat.
Could have been a bowel resection. Long recovery time and she would not feel good or want to be seen in public. Or anything where she'd have to wear a temporary colostomy bag. The poo jokes from meanspirited people would be neverending.
I've definitely seen the ostomy theory in several threads at this point.
I’ve also read “work done to her face”… but I can get behind the bowel theory.
She had scheduled appointments canceled, this wasn't a face lift. There are also pictures of an ambulance at the house on the 28th of December. This is something more serious
I had no idea about the ambulance and yes, I always thought it was “serious”.
Word of advice, don't get behind any bowel theories, best to stay in front.
This was where my head went to immediately. I’ve had that before, and yeah, it’s a long, long recovery. It’s miserable, it’s painful, it’s mentally draining, and you don’t want to go out in public.
I hope you’re doing better now. It sounds terrible.
Oh yeah, that was four years ago, so we’re good. Appreciate the sentiment though. It is just god awful, so I don’t blame them for just staying all sorts of private. I had the luxury of being a no-name and able to make all sorts of poop jokes. They don’t have that luxury, and I’m sure that sucks even more because it was a little cathartic for me.
Honestly I've currently got a temp one and it only sucked for the first couple weeks. Literally not had one joke or people treat me different. Really depends on you and who you surround yourself with I guess.
If this is true - 1, I feel for her. It seems like a terrible thing to go through that is highly stigmatized (there is a gal on youtube that shares all the ins and outs of living with an ostomy and I applaud what she does). 2 though, it sure would be a good time to do some good. No need for a photo or video, but to say this is what she's going through and indeed does have something in common with the commoners. Once mentally ready (and maybe my suggestion is way too soon at this point), some real good can come of it. De-stigmatize it. Show that you can be beautiful with an ostomy. Show that you can be normal with an ostomy (or whatever illness is happening). I'm not saying anyone is owed anything, but I always think wow - wouldn't it be such an amazing thing to be able to help others. Empower others with your winning spirit. No, commoners will never be the same, but it's nice to see someone who has similar battles as you when you are going through tough times.
Depends on if she had time to think things through beforehand or not. Given the timeline (she had public events that were cancelled) it seems whatever happened was emergent, despite them saying it was scheduled. If she had to go through a hard surgery with unpleasant recovery, I can see her not having the time to process it into "how can I use this to help others," especially when she has a dedicated army of vicious haters. (I myself am not a monarchist but whew the dehumanization of public figures bugs me.)
The conjoined twin started speaking abd telling people to get to Mars.
Start the reactor Quaid..
Or she just wants some privacy, rather than her condition being used as a source of entertainment for sections of the public.
This is the same royal family that trots these women out in full makeup for a photo op 10 minutes after giving birth. For them to hear all the rumors and not produce any actually public appearance (even if a staged sitting outside getting some fresh air) is… odd
Yeah; for all that, and *then* the “proof of life” photo is shopped, super sus
It's just something the royal family does, they've been doing it for probably their entire existence, Queen Elizabeth II in particular was extremely private about health issues It's why King Charles revealing his cancer diagnosis was kind of unusual
They were so secretive in the past they didn’t even tell King George *himself* (previous to Queen Elizabeth) he had lung cancer.
If it was something related to reproductive health they may be hiding it. Miscarriage. Ectopic pregnancy. Malformed with severe genetic disease needing later than Usual termimation
I’m convinced she had a medically necessary hysterectomy. It wouldn’t be uncommon for someone her age, especially after 3 kids.
You have a lot to learn about the royal family. But as an example; her and prince William had a massive fight and he pushed her down the stairs. She got seriously injured. This is one of the **conspiracy theories** (not what I'm claiming is true). And if something like that were to happen it would be a *big fucking deal* (imagine Joe Biden punching his wife. Then multiply it by ten)
I don't care either way about the royals but it seems far more likely that she just ill in a more complex way than the palace is ready to disclose. She's frequently been *very* thin in the past, her pregnancies were publicly admitted to have been extremely hard on her and she has never done anything like the level of public work which someone of her position would normally be expected to do. It's quite plausible that she has some kind of fairly serious chronic health condition which has worsened and everyone internally needs time to figure out how to manage it.
They said she had abdominal surgery. My guess is she's had a hysterectomy or other major plumbing work done and doesn't want the world to know. And fair enough! Trouble is you can't be cagey about stuff like that anymore as there's always people waiting for a chance to start a few juicy conspiracy theories.
Even a total hysterectomy wouldn’t account for 2 months in the hospital. There were probably complications during the surgery that cascaded. One very serious and relatively common issue during abdominal surgery is when bowel is accidentally cut. Then you have fecal contents leaking into your abdominal cavity which can turn into a very serious infection. That’s typically what I’ve seen in the hospital when someone is kept longer than expected after abdominal surgery
Hell, I had a third of my liver removed, along with the tumour it was harbouring, and I wasn’t in for even a week. LOL
She may have had work done that needed a colostomy bag, or something similarly debilitating, but my money's on treatment for an eating disorder -- that's something that requires longterm inpatient treatment.
I suspect the sensitivite part is *why* she had it. Someone in another thread suggested it might be due to an ectopic pregnancy in which case she would currently be dealing with a double whammy of grief, for the child she was carrying and for the loss of her ability to carry any more in the future. It would explain William's 'personal matter' and why she didn't feel up to a Mother's Day photoshoot.
>why she didn't feel up to a Mother's Day photoshoot That would be emotionally devastating, I'd imagine. I know it's just speculation but your comment made me empathize with her and realize how wild it would be to be used for PR in the way she has been for so long.
If she had endometriosis a hysterectomy would make sense. And the endometriosis itself could explain her historical low work load for a working member of the Royal Family.
Yeah the royals have always been especially cagey about releasing any information unless they absolutely have to. However in the modern age it's becoming increasingly difficult for them to keep things from getting out. If this were 1950's or earlier we just wouldn't have heard about it at all. The newspapers would never have run the story without the royals permission and it wouldn't have been granted. That's no longer the case and the royals are struggling to adapt. Which is why we'll see more and more of these media blunders unless they change how they operate at a fundamental level. If they'd just released the truth from the beginning then it likely would have blown over within a few days. Instead we've got this mass hysteria with crazy conspiracy theories.
that stuff gets extra weird i'm sure too when your whole job is having royal babies. They are all members of an ancient institution where stuff like that still matters so having health problems related to fertility is seen as some kind of failure even if you didn't plan to have any more kids.
Imagine if you ceased to exist if people realized that you are entirely unnecessary. That is the royal family.
because there are a lot of rumors/conspiracies about her health (she hasn't been seen in public for quiet a while now). the manipulated photo is seen by some as evidence that the palace wants to hide something ...
Because the British royal family has a centuries-long history of honesty and transparency that is completely at odds with you know what I can’t finish this sentence.
In addition to the other conspiracies there's like 6 graphical weirdnesses in the photo (Charlotte's left hand, Louie's right shoulder, Kate's lack of wedding ring, white border behind Louie, Kate blurry right hand, some people say George teeth but I don't see it, I think maybe some others) that make it *really* clear this is weirdly edited.
They also all happen to be wearing the same clothes (with a sweater maybe thrown on or a change in color - that ones easy to edit) as they were in a video published by the PR team back in November/December. Rewears occasionally happen, but everyone in the same thing is more out of the norm
Same clothes but the clothes have been recolored, is that correct? That would be extra weird
I guess kate hasn’t been seen for some time since she had a surgery. A photoshopped photo of her was posted and people are speculating that she’s received the diana treatment
How is the actual picture not in the article or this thread?
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/royals/four-reasons-royal-watchers-believe-princess-kate-picture-is-doctored/news-story/f1724ca7c09559008503a2a973a366c7?amp&nk=752291496ff655fdf1a7f7ba36c0a190-1710160731
This is the better one that actually shows some of the issues and shows the full image. Thank you for posting.
You da real MVP
I used to be a photographer. I bet I know what’s happening. They probably couldn’t get one perfect group picture and started combining the good pictures of each person into one group photo.
The associated press "killed" the story and banned the use of it's picture online and through social media for anybody affiliated with them. https://news.sky.com/story/picture-agencies-pull-kate-photo-amid-manipulation-concerns-13092352 Hopefully this link isn't dead.
That’s some top tier glazing. Thanks!
I'm guessing because 4 news agencies ordered the image to be killed (i.e taken off distribution): [https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-68526972](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-68526972)
How long before it’s called KateGate?
Biggest scandal since Watergate-gate
Princess Di II, electric boogaloo
Princess Di II, Di Harder
If the BBC calls it that, I will, errrr… streak across Reddit.
Not releasing the unmanipulated photo with this statement makes it seem that much more suspicious. Say her health problem was way worse than what they’re letting on. Fine. What related to that would they have even been covering up here? Likely the edits had nothing to do with that even, but it still makes this whole scenario weirder. E: saw a theory in another thread (ha…or right below this) that it was probably multiple shots edited together, basically the “best” shot of each kid. Which totally makes sense. Why not just release a statement saying “hey little kids of that age are hard to get to sit still, so we edited together the best shots.” Then release some “outtakes” of the shoot that shows the kids trying to get away, not looking at the camera, having their finger in their nose; whatever actually happened. That would be fun and relatable.
The unmanipulated is probably 20 photos spliced together. You try getting 3 young children to stay still for 5 seconds.
I took some amateur photos at a wedding recently - even getting a group of adults to smile and keep their eyes open at the same time is bloody hard.
You’re very probably right, but it’s certainly perplexing why they didn’t just say that
They aren't that young. I have 5 kids, who have not been being trained for photo opa their whole life and I can get an image that wouldn't require this level of change. AND I am a chronic picture blinker. That said, it could have been a bad day or something, but at this point, I think it could go a long way to release those pictures right now. Parents would seriously relate to a series of "Welcome to why I had to do this to that picture" pictures. It would make the public feel slightly sorry for her to sit through that ordeal with her kids while not feeling 100%. But, more than likely, the series of photos doesn't exist.
That's what kills me about the royals. Being relatable is so key...yet it seems to be the one thing they absolutely will not do.
I've been a professional photo editor for over 15 years and it was definitely a photo composite of the best sections of each photo, just like you suggested. I'd go as far as to say over 50% of all professional photos like this that you see are composites. Lots of telltale signs in this photo with the blurred masks. Some of it came off lazy (like the tiles on the ground... very east to line that up right) but the texture of fabric is always a challenge to blend because your eye picks up on repeating patterns so easily. This was a job done by somebody that is not at the professional level of image compositing because when it's done right you really can't tell.
Absolutely no way they released a heavily manipulated photo just because "kids can't stand still".
Also, it’s not like the kids are too young to sit still for a photo anymore. Aren’t they all pretty much school age already?
I've seen this whole, "kids can't sit still for a photo," thing a few times now. The people saying this do not have kids. Kids this age, can absolutely sit still for photos. Even poorly behaved children this age can sit still for long enough to take a few pictures. If these kids were toddlers and younger, there would be an argument to be made.
Totally agree. They are well old enough to pose for a few pictures m.
Plus they’ve been trained to sit for official photos their entire lives.
When a royal just wants to tinker with Adobe
I hope we aren't paying for her Adobe subscription plan, she needs to be using GIMP instead.
Hey now, guillotines are more humane than forcing someone to use GIMP.
Why are they making her apologize and take the blame?
How do we know it’s even her? She could be locked up in the tower of London
Making women apologize and take the blame is a royal tradition. Meanwhile, Prince Andrew...
This whole conspiracy thing is fascinating to me. I feel like she/they could end all the speculation by just......releasing a little 10 second video. "Hi guys. I'm still alive, lol" ???
Just release an unedited version then. By all means colour correct, or simple things, but just release one of the source pictures. It's likely they just combined the best takes of each person, not a big deal. Easy to explain and dispell rumours.
If they release the unedited photo, people might realize it's actually from a photoshoot that was done back before Christmas. She's wearing the exact same outfit as in this video released in December, but the sweater was changed from white to black. Charlotte's very frilly red neckline is also the same, but she's now got a cardigan on top. Louis' sweater definitely looks 'shopped in the new pic, but George's just looks like they darkened it to be more blue. The shoes Kate and Charlotte are wearing also match. Plus, you don't wear tight jeans when you're recovering from abdominal surgery. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvwLS2nGdO4
This is the best theory I’ve seen. It makes a lot more sense then just editing a few takes together. Would the trees have looked like that back in December?
There was someone in r/photoshop saying that foliage looks like from late-autumn, here's their [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/photoshop/comments/1bboc68/comment/kucg3ab/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button). Can't comment on that, as I'm from Baltic States, we lose all leaves in late October already. Whole thread is quite interesting as well, as people there have experience with the software and making rather more intricate guesses / explanations how photo was made. So far it seems, it's few separate photos stitched together in an amateur manner, missing a ton of spots - say, because kids couldn't stand still and photographer could've been pressured into making a "pretty" photo. Once again, that's just guesses :D
I couldn’t care less and was just flicking through to see what all the drama was about but this is a brilliant theory.
Plus, there is a bush/tree in the background that has leaves. It's much more believable that the pic is from December and not the tail end of winter.
Hmm good catch
You had me @ tight jeans recovering from ab surgery. Nice job.
Damn, they blaming her for everything.
This dumbass saga has been incredible to watch. Why, if she's so sick, is she being forced into the spotlight? And why can't they just say that she's really sick and needs time to recover? People get fucking sick all the time, it's normal
lmao this is incredible. Are we really to believe that the photos were taken by Kate and not a photographer employed by the royal family, and that she then sat at her computer and edited the photos herself?
The official statement is that Prince William took the photo. So it makes it doubly weird that they're putting the blame in Catherine for editing it 😮💨
There’s no way a non-photographer man took this photo because the image isn’t two thirds floor.
Stars they’re just like us!
A very believable excuse. I am not, in any way, shape, or form, even more interested in the story now.
I didn't know, and certainly wouldn't care, that a royal was keeping off camera after a hospital visit. But for them to be sending out fake photos and lying about them? Now THAT suddenly makes it interesting.
Surely this excuse will stop the conspiracy theories!
Was this a "I'm very working class with photoshop skill issues"
It’s been about two months since surgery. Abdominal surgery takes 6-8 weeks to fully recover from, barring any complication or infection, in which case that timeline is longer. During recovery, you feel like moving as little as possible, because it’s uncomfortable at best, excruciating at worst.
Plus, she probably has lost weight, her skin probably doesn't look the best, and she probably just shouldn't have been made to feel like she had to release a photo like that.
But that's part of the drama. The fact that only authorized photos are allowed, with the palace having the ability to enforce those privacy concerns, gives credence to the idea that all that shit that was published by the royal press pool all the other times was de facto greenlit. It's like damn yall really didn't like that other woman huh? Cause tabloids went buck wild on her and there wasn't a peep from the palace.
As someone who doesn't give a fuck about the royal family and didn't care about any of this drama until like 3 days ago, it's unbelievable how bad they are at making all of this seem like no big deal. I get more invested with every update. If they would've never addressed it, I would've never even noticed anything was happening.
She edited her own wedding ring off? Why have all 3 kids got their fingers crossed. Seems odd.
What is HAPPENING over there???👀🍿
Ahhhhh yes, the woman recovering from surgery, who hasn’t been seen in public since Christmas, issued that photo showing her bent forward in the chair looking totally fine and ALSO has been messing with Photoshop on purpose, and this is definitely her behind the Twitter taking full responsibility instead of anyone else. Mmmmkay.
I mean it was kind of a weird photo, but people saying that the children were trying to transmit secret messages with their crossed fingers was a bit over the top
Look you can’t expect the (checks notes) Princess of Wales to have a PR person or a staff photographer who cleans up images for them. What could be happening that is SO TERRIBLE that people won’t go “oh no poor Kate” and they have to fuck it up this bad.
Wait .. Princess Kate edits official photos?
I get why this has become a bit of a meme, but does anyone else feel a bit weird about all the constant speculation? Some say she’s seriously ill, some say she’s had a nervous breakdown, some say she was assaulted by William, or that she has an eating disorder etc. I’m not a monarchist, but why can’t her health just be her business and why are people so obsessed with this? The harmless stuff doesn’t bother me - the memes about her being at the wonka experience for example. But all the baseless but genuine speculation just seems kinda pathetic and weird, like the people who care about the love lives of the Kardashians or some shit. Get a better hobby.
My favorite theory was that she had shitty bangs and was waiting for the hair to grow again.
I wanna go with this theory
Basically, Kate's clothes in the photo match the outfit that she wore to an event in November 2023, but the color of the sweater is navy instead of white/cream that she wore at the event. The sweater designer did not make a navy version. Everything else Kate is wearing matches that event exactly, like the jeans and shoes. Additionally, George's sweater matches the same event except for the shirt underneath, and it looks like they just filled in the white with blue. For Charlotte, at the same event in 11/2023, she was wearing a red sweater with a unique neckline, and the photo has the same neckline, but her skirt is different. However, the edits are so bad on the skirt in the released photo. You can tell they put it over what was originally in the photo. It was one of the major tells that it was altered. So it looks like allegedly, they used an old photo and lied about when it was taken? Why? Why can't they get a new photograph of Kate. Finally, the paparazzi photo of her in the car with her mom that came out a week or so ago was also altered. At the bottom of the photo, three wheels are on one side of the car vs. two on the other. So why are all of Kate's photos being altered? of her mom or kids visiting the hospital and only one visit from William when she was supposedly pretty badly off. Editing to credit the Tiktok creator who did the research on the outfits for the photo: "@allynaston" Additionally, a paragraph was missing from the original comment. There were photos on twitter of a motorcade leaving Kate's residence on Dec 28 and going to the hospital. The palace did not release a statement at that time. Instead, they made an announcement weeks later about a "scheduled" surgery and said that the recovery time would be for a long time. Then Kate's mom, who's normally always around, was never seen visiting her at the hospital and neither were the children. For a multi-week stay, William only visited ONCE. Then, when Kate was discharged, there were no photos of her leaving the hospital. And this is a woman who was photographed hours after giving birth.
The oddest thing to me is that the car photo showed a very bloated version of her, but suddenly by the weekend she was back to rail-thin face?
*cough* bullshit *cough*
[удалено]
AP pulling a photo means it is absolutely a serious journalistic concern. AP retractions are very rare and quite serious.
So where is the photo in question?
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/mar/10/first-post-op-photo-of-princess-of-wales-withdrawn-due-to-manipulation#img-2
Ok, now they got my full attention.