A royal mess.
The public’s trust in the UK’s royal family continues to decline as another photo from the Firm has been flagged as “digitally enhanced.”
Getty Images recently noted that the photo of the Windsor clan at Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s son Archie’s July 2019 christening was also altered.
The photographer of the portrait, Chris Allerton, denied the allegation to the Daily Mail on Wednesday.
He said that the idea that he would edit the photo in a manipulative way “was a load of cobblers.”
The English phrase is a slang term that means “nonsense.”
Allerton explained to the publication that the photo needed “the very minimal tuning” to its coloring, and how his camera was set up beforehand in an effort to shoot “a relaxed and pleasing moment quickly and efficiently for them.”
The image featured the Duke and Duchess of Sussex holding their then-2-month-old son, as they sat alongside King Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince William, Kate Middleton, Markle’s mother Doria Ragland, as well as the late Princess Diana’s sisters, Lady Jane Fellowes and Lady Sarah McCorquodale.
“Getty Images is undertaking a review of handout images and, in accordance with its editorial policy, is placing an editor’s note on images where the source has suggested they could be digitally enhanced,” the photo agency’s rep told the Daily Mail.
The “Suits” star, 42, and the Invictus Games founder’s friend Misan Harriman took to social media to defend Allerton.
“I’ve just spoken to Chris Allerton, Getty Images should never have put that editors note on his image, I am sure,” Harriman wrote on X.
The Nigerian-British photographer has often snapped images of the Sussexes, including one iconic pic of a pregnant Markle looking up lovingly at Harry, 39, in 2021.
Harriman added that he hopes that Getty “will make a statement about [Allerton’s photo] in due course.”
“More importantly the newspapers should have spoken to him BEFORE publishing what has now become a global non-story about his work. He’s a great photographer who doesn’t deserve any of this. Please leave this man alone,” he went on.
Later on Wednesday, a spokesperson for Getty Images reversed their initial take on the photo.
“The image in question had an editor’s note placed on it while under review and that note has now been removed with no issues found,” a spokesperson told USA Today in a statement.
Bad Photoshop tweaking has plagued the royal family in recent weeks, especially with Middleton’s UK Mother’s Day photograph being torn to pieces on social media.
On March 10, the Princess of Wales, 42, shared a photo of herself smiling with her children, Prince George, 10, Prince Louis, 5, and Princess Charlotte, 8.
However, critics found many editing mistakes in the photo and the mishap caused photo agencies to send out “kill” notices to press outlets — and many to speculate about Middleton’s whereabouts following her January abdominal surgery.
Middleton herself apologized for the digital alterations to the picture, sharing a statement on X.
“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 tweeted on Monday.