I would be lying if I said I hadn’t speculated about the abdominal surgery that removed Princess Kate from the public eye two months ago. At the same time, I also respect a woman’s right to privacy over medical matters, even someone who is in the public eye.
But as the weeks dragged on, with no news or sightings of Kate – save a blurry shot of her allegedly being driven in a car by her mother – I fell prey to public conjecture. Was she seriously ill? Was something else going on? The PR professional in me was beginning to chafe at the vacuum of information.
So, when a photo of the princess and her three children was released on Mother’s Day in Britain, it seemed – at first – to be the reassuring confirmation that we had all been awaiting.
Until it was discovered that the photo had been digitally altered. By none other than Kate herself.
Suddenly, everything about Princess Kate and her condition became even more suspect. What does manipulation of a family photograph suggest to an already suspicious public? Was the photo even real?
News outlets, including AP and Reuters, pulled the photo. On Instagram, it remains up, though Instagram has attached a message that the photo has been altered.
When it was revealed that it was the Princess herself who altered the photo – “like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing” – I was even more surprised. The fact that a staff member in the communications office didn’t take the fall for the alteration struck me as “curiouser and curiouser.”
At a client photo shoot this morning, the topic of the altered photo naturally came up. Our photographer cheerfully reminded us that professional photographers regularly Photoshop corporate photos – to remove red eyes, lighten shadows, obliterate offending backgrounds.
But when an amateur photographer who happens to be a Royal does it (poorly, it would appear) on a photo of herself, at a time when public conjecture surrounding her medical condition and absence is already swirling, well, that just makes matters worse. A lot worse.
She hasn’t just undermined her own credibility – she has damaged an already weakened brand. Reputation is everything. Ironically, a step taken to reassure a restive public seems to have backfired spectacularly. Princess Kate may have Photoshopped away what little public trust of the Windsors still remains.
What would you advise Princess Kate to do at this point? Can she regain the public trust?