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    1. Celebrity
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    Royal Expert Reflects on Princess Kate's "Foolish and Unprofessional" Photo Scandal, Suggesting Intervention Would Have Made "Matters Worse"

    "They would have had sympathy for them..."

    Amy Mackelden#039;s avatar
    By Amy Mackelden
    Published 14 September 2025 In News

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    Kate Middleton wears a blue tweed coat dress
    (Image credit: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)
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    In March 2024, Princess Kate and Prince William faced an unexpected scandal when they shared a photo on Instagram in honor of Mother's Day. It was later revealed that the picture, which showed the Princess of Wales with her three children—Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis—had been Photoshopped. Now, a royal expert has opened up about how the British government reacted to the situation, which allegedly left the royals "bruised" and "upset."

    Speaking to GB News, royal expert Valentine Low revealed how the British government probably reacted to Princess Kate's Mother's Day photo scandal. "I don't know exactly what Downing Street thought, but I suspect they would have considered the palace foolish and unprofessional," Low told the outlet.

    He continued, "At the same time, they would have had sympathy for them, and they absolutely were not going to do anything that would make matters worse. That is how I imagine the Downing Street [residence of the prime minister] view to be."

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    Prince William, Prince George, Prince Louis, Princess Charlotte and Princess Kate dressed up in suits and dresses at Trooping the Colour

    "They would have had sympathy for them."

    (Image credit: Getty Images)

    Kate and William's photo scandal occurred at a time when the Princess of Wales had retreated from public life. Prior to announcing her cancer diagnosis, conspiracy theories festered online, and the family's altered photo only added to the supposed mystery.

    The Princess of Wales apologized for the photograph, which she claimed to have edited herself at home. "Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing," Kate wrote on X at the time. "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."

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    Prince William, Prince George, Princess Kate, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte leaning to the side on the balcony at Buckingham Palace

    "Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing," Kate wrote.

    (Image credit: Getty Images)

    Following the incident, royal biographer Robert Hardman told People, "There was a real sense then that they felt bruised by it." He continued, "It was treated like some great fraud." Luckily, the scandal has since subsided, and Princess Kate has been welcomed back into public life with open arms.

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    Weekend Editor

    Amy Mackelden is the weekend editor at Marie Claire, where she covers celebrity and royal family news. She was the weekend editor at Harper’s BAZAAR for three years, where she covered breaking celebrity and entertainment news, royal stories, fashion, beauty, and politics. Prior to that, she spent a year as the joint weekend editor for Marie Claire, ELLE, and Harper's BAZAAR, and two years as an entertainment writer at Bustle. Her additional bylines include Cosmopolitan, People, The Independent, HelloGiggles, Biography, Shondaland, Best Products, New Statesman, Heat, and The Guardian. Her work has been syndicated by publications including Town Country, Good Housekeeping, Esquire, Delish, Oprah Daily, Country Living, and Women's Health. Her celebrity interviews include Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Chastain, the cast of Selling Sunset, Emma Thompson, Jessica Alba, and Penn Badgley. In 2015, she delivered an academic paper at Kimposium, the world's first Kardashian conference.

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