In recent days, an important news agency worldwide, the AFP (Agence France-Presse), assured Kensington Palace is no longer a ‘trusted source’ due to Kate Middleton‘s manipulated photo, discrediting the sincerity in the statements of this official source of British royalty.
A few days ago, the Princess of Wales posted a new photo on the couple’s official networks for International Women’s Day, with a new photo of her with her three children, generating controversy for having evidence of editing and raising “major issues” for AFP.
Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months.
Wishing everyone a Happy Mother's Day. C
📸 The Prince of Wales, 2024 pic.twitter.com/6DywGBpLLQ
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) March 10, 2024
Kate Middleton apologized, claiming that everything is “confusion” and that she edited the photo, generating more controversy due to her current health problem, for which she has been out of public life since mid-January.
Later, during a conversation with BBC Radio 4’s Media Show, the global news director of the agency, Phil Chetwynd, said that they had reviewed their past with Kate Middleton and Prince William, and they had decided to check the future images of the monarchy.
Chetwynd was asked if the Kensington Palace was a trusted source, to which he said, “No, absolutely not. Like with anything, when you’re let down by a source, the bar is raised“, and they warned their team to be “super more vigilant about the content” even from “trusted sources“.
AFP is one of the biggest news agencies. I asked its Global News Director, Phil Chetwynd, if AFP would consider Kensington Palace a trusted source, after the edited photo of the Princess of Wales & her children. 'Absolutely not' was the reply. Here's the exchange on @BBCRadio4. pic.twitter.com/yifhSode1p
— Ros Atkins (@BBCRosAtkins) March 14, 2024
Finally, the director said that “you cannot be distorting reality for the public“, and continued, “the big issue here is one of trust, and the lack of trust and the falling trust of the general public in institutions generally and in the media“, and that is why the reality in those kinds of photos is important.
