A second royal photo has come under scrutiny after a major picture agency added a note to say it had been “digitally enhanced”.
The image of the late Queen was shared by Kensington Palace on 21 April last year, on what would have been the monarch’s 97th birthday.
Getty Images changed its notes on the image – taken by the Princess of Wales at Balmoral in the summer of 2022 – just a week after major picture agencies pulled a photo of Kate and her three children over concerns it was “manipulated” at the source.
Sky News has been speaking to a photo forensics expert, who has confirmed seven ways the photo of the late Queen could have been edited:
1) To the left of the button on the sofa, there appears to be a vertical edit line running down the image – causing the folds that run from the button to the left to be out of line.
2) This edit line runs down the whole image to the edge of the Queen’s blanket. You can see the cross stitching that runs from right to left is out of kilter.
3) Just under Prince Louis’ ear, there appears to be something that could be his hair, but further round to his cheek, it looks like an uneven cut-out.
4) Near the arm of the Queen’s great-granddaughter Savannah Phillips, a small blemish can be seen that may have been added in accidentally in the editing process.
5) There is also a clear vertical line on the edge of the sofa that makes a 90-degree turn to the left with a blue blemish, which is not part of the sofa.
6) Under the arm of the chair, some unusual black and white zigzagging can be seen. It looks as though someone has tried to fade it out.
7) The locks of Mia Tindall’s hair are duplicated and there is a clear edit vertical line which breaks the indent and shadow of the sofa button.
In a statement, Getty said: “Getty Images can confirm that in accordance with its editorial policy it has placed an editor’s note on a handout image stating the image has been digitally enhanced at source.”
Agencies that distribute news photographs prohibit the publication of images that have been overly edited.
