The Princess of Wales is likely to want to quickly forget this week’s adventures in photography – after six global picture agencies withdrew the family’s official Mother’s Day photo over fears it had been ‘manipulated’
The released image, which bears several signs of editing, including part of Princess Charlotte‘s sleeve being missing, was, it emerged today, taken by Prince William on Friday before Kate edited it twice in Photoshop to ‘make it the best it can be’.
The touching family photo, the first picture of the Princess of Wales, 42, to appear since her abdominal surgery earlier in the year, which Kate is still recovering from at the family’s home at Adelaide Cottage on the Windsor estate, sparked a swift apology from Kensington Palace earlier this week.
Amid the ensuing furore, the Princess issued a statement on Twitter and Instagram admitting she ‘edited’ the image – adding that she does ‘occasionally experiment’ as an ‘amateur photographer’ and apologising for ‘any confusion’ the image caused.
However, the royal hobbyist can be forgiven for the photographic blip, for her previous skill behind the camera has gifted insight that many professional snappers have struggled to capture – with her family her biggest muse.
Here FEMAIL looks at some of the many photographs of the royals the Princess has released over the years, including touching photos of Prince William with his father and the late Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip with their great grandchildren…
PRINCE GEORGE
The Prince and Princess of Wales’ eldest son, now ten, is more than used to posing for his mum, with snaps of the heir-to-the-throne appearing regularly – and marking milestones such as his first day at nursery in Norfolk, and supporting the England squad in a team shirt in 2019.
On his seventh birthday, two photographs were released, taken in July 2020 during lockdown – at their then Norfolk home, Anmer Hall.
His eighth birthday also saw him photographed at Amner Hall and showed the future king perched on the bonnet of a Land Rover Defender.
Prince George turned nine in 2022, and his mother was behind the camera once more. The young royal posed in a polo-style top with a sandy shoreline and water behind him in his birthday snap.
PRINCESS CHARLOTTE
The middle child of Kate and William has also been an adorable subject for her mum’s favourite hobby. An early photo of Princess Charlotte, who turns nine in May, sees her being cradled by her older brother George.
Other highlights include a second birthday photo of her wearing a snuggly lemon cardigan, and holding the family dog for a portrait to mark her seventh birthday.
PRINCE LOUIS
The youngest of the Wales siblings, little Prince Louis, who turns six in April, looks considerably more grown up in the Mother’s Day photos released this week.
The schoolboy has been seen in a variety of photos since he was born in 2018; first pictures snapped by Kate show him as a red-cheeked bouncing baby, with one photo showing him in the arms of his big sister Princess Charlotte.
More recently, Prince Louis has been photographed cycling to nursery on his bicycle – and in group family photos with dad Prince William.
FAMILY PORTRAITS
KING CHARLES AND QUEEN CAMILLA
Kate’s father-in-law, the King, and Queen Camilla have also featured in some of the photographs the Princess of Wales has chosen to make public over the years.
In 2018, Kate captured an image to mark both Father’s day and the 38th birthday of the then Duke of Cambridge. The father-and-son photo sees William with his arm protectively around his father, with both royals laughing warmly at the camera.
A black-and-white photo of the King, then the Prince of Wales, taken with Prince Louis as he turned two, offered rare insight into the close bond the monarch has with his grandchildren to Kate and William.
And Queen Camilla has also acknowledged Kate’s skills with a camera in hand, asking the then Duchess of Cambridge to photograph her to mark her 75th birthday.
The Queen is seen in the summertime shot with a basket of cut flowers, wearing a pretty blue dress.
QUEEN ELIZABETH AND PRINCE PHILIP
Kensington Palace published an unseen photograph of Queen Elizabeth II on what would have been the late monarch’s 97th birthday in 2023.
The previously unseen picture of the monarch was captured by the Princess of Wales at Balmoral in August 2022 – weeks before her death on September 8th.
Happy in the Scottish Highlands she so loved, Her Majesty is surrounded by some of her adored grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Several years earlier, Kate had also photographed the late Queen and Prince Philip with their great-grandchildren at Balmoral in 2018.
