Prince William and his eldest son, Prince George, put on aprons to help make Christmas lunch at a homeless shelter, a charity that the Prince of Wales first visited as a child with his mother, the late Princess Diana.The royal father and son were seen decorating a Christmas tree and helping with meal preparations in the kitchen at The Passage in central London, in a video posted to William’s YouTube account on Saturday.“Proud to join volunteers and staff at The Passage in preparing Christmas lunch – this year with another pair of helping hands,” read a post on the social media account of William and his wife, Princess Catherine.William is the royal patron of The Passage, which he first visited when he was 11 with his mother, Diana. The heir to the throne has visited the charity in recent years, but this was the first time George, 12, joined him.The young royal signed his name in a book on the same page that Diana and William had written their names 32 years ago, in December 1993.William was shown pouring Brussels sprouts onto an oven tray, while George helped set out Yorkshire puddings and set a long table for dozens of attendees.William launched his Homewards project in 2023 to tackle homelessness.
LONDON —
Prince William and his eldest son, Prince George, put on aprons to help make Christmas lunch at a homeless shelter, a charity that the Prince of Wales first visited as a child with his mother, the late Princess Diana.
The royal father and son were seen decorating a Christmas tree and helping with meal preparations in the kitchen at The Passage in central London, in a video posted to William’s YouTube account on Saturday.
“Proud to join volunteers and staff at The Passage in preparing Christmas lunch – this year with another pair of helping hands,” read a post on the social media account of William and his wife, Princess Catherine.
William is the royal patron of The Passage, which he first visited when he was 11 with his mother, Diana. The heir to the throne has visited the charity in recent years, but this was the first time George, 12, joined him.
The young royal signed his name in a book on the same page that Diana and William had written their names 32 years ago, in December 1993.
William was shown pouring Brussels sprouts onto an oven tray, while George helped set out Yorkshire puddings and set a long table for dozens of attendees.
William launched his Homewards project in 2023 to tackle homelessness.
Just one week after Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, apologized for editing a photo of herself and her children on Mother’s Day, the UK royal family is in hot water again over another family portrait—which coincidentally is connected to Middleton.
Getty Images Wants AI to Stop Copying Them
Getty Images, one of the world’s largest photo agencies, alerted the public to the second manipulated image on Monday when it placed an editor’s note on a photo of the late Queen Elizabeth II surrounded by her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. “Image has been digitally enhanced at source,” reads the editor’s note on the photo, which is still available for licensing.
The photo, a rare look at the late monarch with the family’s youngest members, was taken by Middleton in August 2022 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. It was shared by the official social media account for the Prince and Princess of Wales on April 21, 2023, to commemorate what would have been Queen Elizabeth’s 97th birthday. Queen Elizabeth died in September 2022. The photo was also sent to agencies like Getty.
Getty was one of many photo agencies, along with the Associated Press and Reuters, that removed Middleton’s Mother’s Day photo from its offerings last week. The agencies only allow minimal editing in the photos they distribute.
“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,” a Getty Images spokesperson told Gizmodo in an emailed statement on Tuesday.
The press office of the Prince and the Princess of Wales couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
To my untrained eyes, it’s not clear how many edits have been made to the photo of Queen Elizabeth with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and Getty didn’t specify. CNN reports that it found 19 possible alterations, while The Telegraph found 7.
Here are the ones I can see with my face pressed up to my computer screen:
There is a misalignment of Queen Elizabeth’s plaid skirt near her right elbow. This one is pretty bad. The misalignment run from the skirt to the green couch, where the fabric dimples near the button don’t align.
There is a black cutout above Prince George’s shoulder. You can see it set against the green dress of Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor.
Prince Louis, who is on the right next to the vase with the red rose, looks like his head was cropped out from somewhere else if you zoom in.
Savannah Philips, the Queen’s great-granddaughter who is sitting next to her in red, looks like her blonde hair is going through her red sleeve. It then magically reappears.
On the side of the couch near the vase with the rose, there’s another bad alignment. Dimple marks don’t line up.
If you all find more, please feel free to let me know in the comments!
While Middleton hasn’t come out to say the edits were her work—it’s very possible she only took the photo—it’s hard not to make the connection. (The Royal Family credited the Princess as the photographer on social media.) The incident calls the UK royal family’s reputation into question and increases the storm of scrutiny already surrounding them due to Middleton’s months-long disappearance from the public eye after abdominal surgery. Middleton’s absence has prompted a slew of conspiracy theories, with some speculating that she’s getting a divorce from Prince William or is actually dead.
Coupled with AI, which has been creating fake celebrity porn and other atrocities, the incident seems to reflect the dawn of a new era where we can’t trust what we see.
In an interview last week, Phil Chetwynd, the global news director of Agence France-Presse (AFP) said that the palace had been considered a trusted source for a long time. Asked if it was still a trusted source, Chetwynd said: “No, absolutely not.”
Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, wants everyone to chill out about the photo of her and her kids, which has caused an international firestorm after being pulled by some of the world’s biggest photo agencies for being “manipulated.” According to Middleton, that is correct. In fact, she Photoshopped it herself.
Treating GIFs as Fine Art | Gizmodo Interview
“Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” Middleton said in a post on her and Prince William’s X, formerly Twitter, account on Monday morning. “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. C.”
Middleton posted the photo, which shows her sitting down and smiling with her children George, Charlotte, and Louis, to social media on Sunday to commemorate the U.K.’s Mother Day holiday. Ironically, the photo appeared to be aimed at quelling the intense speculation around Middleton’s absence from the public eye for nearly two months after a planned abdominal surgery.
Her rare disappearance set off a swirl of rumors and conspiracy theories, with some stating that it was proof that she and Prince William were having problems in their marriage. Others speculated that she was suffering from a more serious health condition and could be in a coma.
“Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months. Wishing everyone a Happy Mother’s Day,” the Sunday photo caption read, ending with “C” to indicate that it was posted by Middleton. The caption also added that it was taken by Prince William in 2024.
As of the time of publication of this article, the photo had been viewed more than 68 million times on X. It was also still available on Middleton and Prince William’s X account.
Middleton’s Mother’s Day Photo Fuels Conspiracies
However, instead of calming the public’s conspiracy theories, Middleton’s recent photo only fueled them. Online sleuths pointed out that Middleton was not wearing her wedding ring in the photo—Gizmodo also could not see a ring on Middleton’s left hand—and that her face appeared different from a paparazzi photo taken less than a week ago. (It’s not clear that it was Middleton in the photo.)
The firestorm only intensified when some of the world’s biggest photo agencies pulled the image from their wires and issued a “kill notice,” claiming the photo had been manipulated. The Associated Press and Getty confirmed to Gizmodo that they had pulled the photo, with the AP stating that Princess Charlotte’s hand been edited.
“The Associated Press initially published the photo, which was issued by Kensington Palace. The AP later retracted the image because at closer inspection, it appears that the source had manipulated the image in a way that did not meet AP’s photo standards,” AP spokesperson Nicole Meir said in an emailed statement. “The photo shows an inconsistency in the alignment of Princess Charlotte’s left hand.”
Reuters and Agence France-Presse also pulled it, according to The Telegraph. The photo agencies did not immediately return Gizmodo’s request for comment.
While I didn’t see what was up with Princess Charlotte’s hand at first, after a lot of concentration and zooming, you can clearly see that part of her left arm has been erased. Some users on X also noticed that Middleton’s hair was strangely blurred, which I can also see. They also pointed out that the Princess’ hand holding Prince George was also blurred (ditto, I see that too).
Gizmodo reached out to media representatives for the royal family on Monday morning but did not immediately hear back.
TLDR: Middleton Is Probably Just a Mom Who Edited a Pic She Didn’t Like
With key words like “royals,” “missing princess,” “kill notice,” and “manipulated photo,” it’s no wonder why this incident quickly snowballed into one of the biggest stories of the last few days. I get it. But I also have a lot of friends who are moms, and a lot of friends who are women, that edit their photos all the time—especially when their significant other is the one snapping the pic. If I had to bet, that’s what probably happened here. (Feel free to remind me if I turn out to be wrong so I can eat my computer.)
In today’s ruthless and fake photo landscape, it’s normal to see “flaws” where there may not be any and want to fix them. Maybe Princess Charlotte had a seam popping out of her sweater, or maybe Middleton had a gray hair that was visible. Technology makes it easier than ever to fix these details or erase them, but it also creates a vicious cycle where people are motivated to keep editing their photos in search of “perfection.”
Unfortunately, while Middleton is probably just a mom who didn’t like the photo her husband took or simply looked at it for way too long, when you’re one of the main members of the UK royal family, you’re not allowed to do normal things like editing your photos. Middleton has been in the royal family’s orbit for more than two decades, so I have no doubt she knows this. But alas, she’s a human who’s recently had abdominal surgery and is under a lot of public scrutiny. In this situation, anyone can make a mistake, even a person who’s known for being a pro at her job.
On Sunday, the family reunited for the annual Remembrance ceremony in Whitehall, where a parade of veterans—including Charles and William, who have both served—passed the Cenotaph, a 103-year-old war memorial at which the service men and women laid poppies and wreaths. Charles laid the first wreath, Hello notes. Camilla’s equerry, Major Ollie Plunket, then laid a wreath on her behalf, before William laid one with the emblem of the Prince of Wales.
Catherine, Princess of Wales during the National Service of Remembrance at The Cenotaph on November 12, 2023 in London, England.
Samir Hussein
Kate and Camilla, as well as other members of the family, watched the ceremonies from above, perched on a balcony at the nearby Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. As befits the occasion, the royal clothing was subdued and non-showy, save for Kate’s large, pearl-encrusted earrings. Those are a seeming nod to Queen Elizabeth, who first owned the baubles, Hello confirmed with Kensington Palace.
LONDON—Saying the performance would add a dash of rock and roll to the regal procession, royal sources announced Saturday that King Charles’ coronation would also serve as the first gig for the garage band Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, had formed with several other neighborhood dads. “Before Prince William pays personal homage to the newly crowned monarch, we’re going to be treated to a quick set from Prince Harry and the Mystics, who I’m told will play some rocking covers and a few psychedelic originals of their own devising,” Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby told the gathered crowd of thousands as the ’60s-influenced group, which consists of new fathers Prince Harry met around his Montecito, CA neighborhood, started setting up their effect pedals and plugging in their Stratocasters. “I’ve heard they’ve improved quite wonderfully since they began jamming together in Harry’s garage six months ago over their shared love of Cream and the Rolling Stones. They don’t have a drummer yet, and the prince is still mastering the pentatonic scale, but that’s all the more reason to put your hands together. Go ahead and give the boys a warm welcome!” At press time, sources confirmed that an ecstatic Prince Harry had received an email booking the band for a Santa Barbara block party due to the gig’s success.
LONDON—Crashing through the stained glass window of Westminster Abbey in a desperate attempt to free himself, a panicked King Charles III was seen flailing wildly Saturday after getting his head stuck inside the coronation crown. “Help! Help! Get me out of this godforsaken crown this instant!” said the king, who tried to use his jewel-encrusted scepter to pry off St. Edward’s Crown before accidentally getting his pants caught on a pulley that hoisted him onto the face of Big Ben, exposing his heart-patterned boxers for the entire kingdom to see. “Ow, it hurts! Butter, I need butter! Obey your king’s command for more butter! Whoop whoop whoop whoop whoop!” At press time, Prince William reportedly attempted to free his father by cutting his head off with a sword.
