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As someone who has extensively covered the Windsors’ lies, racism, colonialism, misogyny, stupidity and incompetence for years, this year has been like Christmas to me. It’s also unnerving to watch a global audience suddenly sit up and pay attention to every weird and shady thing that’s happened recently with the Windsors, specifically Prince William and Kate. There’s a combination of factors at play in 2024: Kate’s disappearance, the secrecy around her “abdominal surgery,” William’s weeks-long disappearances, his evident day-drinking, the weird TMZ photo of Kate and Carole in the Audi, and now, this huge catastrophe around the palace-released Mother’s Day photo. All of which to say, when outlets like People Magazine are calling out Kensington Palace for incompetence and poor management, there are much deeper problems.
Kate Middleton’s photo editing controversy is “damning,” a top London PR expert tells PEOPLE exclusively. Mark Borkowski, a London-based public relations and crisis communications expert, tells PEOPLE that in trying to share a new image with the public, the palace hasn’t calmed concerns — “in fact, it’s made it worse.”
“Now some people are asking if it is all generated by AI or is it a Photoshop of a photo taken. It’s not something you’d want the royal brand to be aligned with,” he says.
A palace insider downplayed the PR crisis, telling PEOPLE exclusively that although the situation is a “bump in the road, it’s not an earthquake.”
“[Kate] has apologized and graciously so,” the insider says. “She has done something that 99% of us do — and we don’t have the scrutiny that they do. Think of the level of scrutiny of pictures of her, as people pore over them,” the insider continues. “You’re always on display and always got to be perfect. She might be a member of the royal family, but she’s also a human being. If you’ve just had an operation, you want to look your best with the first photograph that’s published for the outside world.”
Borkowski points out that while the royal family’s policy was “never complain, never explain” during Queen Elizabeth’s reign, “The royals have got themselves cornered by giving some level of information but never enough.” He adds this “halfway” approach “has resulted in this rather unfortunate photo driving a story where perhaps it would normally be shrugged off.”
The palace insider says, “When you think of last week’s paparazzi photo of her and her mother — she doesn’t want a photo like that to be the one everyone remembers.”
Borkowski says the royal household has the ability to bounce back after a mistake, but this instance will have far-reaching consequences. “The difficulty now is because there is so little information about what’s happening to Kate, if they were going to project things are all normal in this way — with a photo that is now deemed to be fake — it is pretty damning about the floundering and the poor decision making that’s going on,” he says.
The palace insider crying about the “scrutiny” Kate is under… like, at first, we just wanted to know what the hell happened to her and why she disappeared for over two months. Now that most people are convinced that she’s alive and conscious, the conversation is about how badly these “insiders” have managed the situation. This isn’t about Kate editing some photos because she feels vulnerable – this is about a taxpayer-funded monarchy lying to the public because they arrogantly underestimated the public’s intelligence. This is not a personal issue, it’s a constitutional issue for Britain.
Also, this is sinister: “When you think of last week’s paparazzi photo of her and her mother — she doesn’t want a photo like that to be the one everyone remembers.” Why would that be “the one everyone remembers” when Kate is supposedly recuperating, wearing jeggings, taking car rides and being dropped off for private appointments? Why are they acting like last week’s photo was the LAST TIME Kate will ever be photographed???
Kate Middleton Seen in Public for First Time Since Mystery Hospitalization | Click to read more 👇 https://t.co/O7zlxZfiCY
— TMZ (@TMZ) March 4, 2024
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Kensington Palace.
HRH King Charles III, Queen Camilla, William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Prince of Wales receive President of South Korea Yoon Suk Yeol during the state visit ceremonial welcome at Horse Guards Parade in London, UK, 21 November 2023,Image: 823419093, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Tim Rooke/Shutterstock / Avalon
The Prince and Princess of Wales at an evening reception for members of the Diplomatic Corps at Buckingham Palace in London. Picture date: Tuesday December 5, 2023,Image: 827170388, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Jonathan Brady / Avalon
Copyright in the photograph is vested in The Prince and Princess of Wales. Publications are asked to credit the photograph to Josh Shinner. The photograph shall be solely used for news editorial purposes only. It shall not be approved for souvenirs, or memorabilia; or anything colourably similar. There shall be no commercial use whatsoever of the photograph (including by way of example only) any use in merchandising, advertising or any other non news editorial use. The photograph must not be digitally enhanced, manipulated or modified in any manner or form and must include all of the individuals in the photograph when published. The photograph shall not be used after 31st December 2024 without prior 
permission from Kensington Palace. Any questions relating to the use of the photograph should be first referred to 
Kensington Palace and before publication.

Undated handout photo issued by Kensington Palace of the Prince and Princess of Wales with their three children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. The photograph, which features on their Royal Highnesses’ Christmas card this year, was taken by the photographer Josh Shinner earlier this year and shows The Prince and Princess with their three children in Windsor. 

NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.,Image: 828291451, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Josh Shinner/Kensington Palace / Avalon
Britain’s Prince William, Prince of Wales delivers a speech during the London’s Air Ambulance Charity Gala Dinner at The OWO in central London, on February 7, 2024.,Image: 844436487, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: DANIEL LEAL / Avalon
The Prince of Wales reacts as he meets EE Rising Stars Phoebe Dynevor, Ayo Edebiri, Sophie Wilde and Mia McKenna Bruce after the Bafta Film Awards 2024, at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London.,Image: 848094476, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Jordan Pettitt / Avalon
The Prince of Wales meets EE Rising Stars Phoebe Dynevor, Ayo Edebiri, Sophie Wilde and Mia McKenna Bruce after the Bafta Film Awards 2024, at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London.,Image: 848094485, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Jordan Pettitt / Avalon
Prince William, gestures as he speaks to Pierre-Yves Paslier co-founder of Natpla as at the Oval cricket ground made by the Earthshot 2022 winner Notpla in London, Friday, March 8, 2024. Prince William will hear about the 2022 Earthshot Prize winner, Notpla, and a new multi-million-pound contract with Levy UK and Ireland, part of Compass Group, to introduce Notpla’s seaweed-based, natural food packaging to over 50 sporting and event venues.,Image: 855012010, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Kin Cheung / Avalon
The Prince and Princess of Wales leave Buckingham Palace, central London, on day one of the President of South Korea Yoon Suk Yeol’s state visit to the UK.
Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales and William, Prince of Wales
Where: London, United Kingdom
When: 21 Nov 2023
Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages
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