The Princess of Wales’s family photo for Mother’s Day has become the most discussed and dissected royal image in living memory, but it may soon be usurped by her younger son’s birthday snap.
Despite the global furore over Kate’s attempts to tidy up the picture, she and her husband, Prince William, are still expected to uphold the annual tradition of releasing a new photograph marking their children’s birthdays. Prince Louis turns six on April 23.
“They appreciate the public’s love and affection for their children and know there is a public appetite to see them on their birthdays,” an aide said.
Sources close to the couple say no “firm decision” has been taken yet on whether Kate will point the camera or leave it to a professional photographer.
Whatever they decide, the couple hope the picture will meet less frenzy. A source close to Kate says she wanted to “bring a bit of joy” with what was intended as a reassuring image to thank the public for their support during her recovery from abdominal surgery in January.
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But the subsequent fallout and hysteria, screeches of a “royal crisis” and demands for “more transparency”, together with wild and unfounded conspiracy theories on social media about Kate’s health and the state of her marriage due to the “missing wedding ring”, has shaken them.
‘Hypocritical’
A friend insists there was nothing sinister in Kate’s editing, just a desire to project the polished image that the public has come to expect from the couple: “It’s a photo that she knew everyone would pore over so she pored over it herself — she likes trying to make the family look the best they can.”
Kate was “devastated” by the furore, prompted by several picture agencies on Sunday night issuing “kill notices” for the image over “manipulation” that did not meet their standards. She moved decisively on Monday morning to “own it” with a rare personal apology on social media, to try to explain what happened. “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” she wrote.
A friend and adviser to the couple said: “If you want to call out the mistake, it was Kate not telling her team that she’d done it [edited the photo]. But she came out and said sorry. The photo was a misstep, even with something as innocent as that you should disclose altering it. But in the history of image-cropping and photo-altering to tell a story, a lot of the reaction from picture agencies was hypocritical.”
‘They trusted people would give them space’
When Kensington Palace announced on January 17 that Kate had undergone abdominal surgery the previous day, the statement made it clear she would remain in hospital for up to two weeks, and “based on the current medical advice” was “unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter.”
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By this, they meant the end of their children’s school holidays, not the Easter weekend. They return to Lambrook School, near Ascot, on April 17, and Kate is still expected to resume public duties from then, though there are no signals yet as to when or where her first engagement will be. William will also take time away from public duties during their children’s Easter holiday.
The palace guidance also said: “The Princess of Wales appreciates the interest this statement will generate. She hopes that the public will understand her desire to maintain as much normality for her children as possible; and her wish that her personal medical information remains private.”
Friends say the couple hoped and expected that request to be respected for the duration of her recovery. One who has been in regular touch with them said: “It’s not that they didn’t think there would be lots of speculation and interest, but they had confidence that people would give them the space they asked for, which they did for about a month.”
‘She is not a show pony’
The tide turned when William pulled out of a memorial service in Windsor at short notice last month for his godfather, King Constantine of Greece, citing a “personal matter”. The friend, who knows why William cancelled, said: “He had no choice but to pull out but the reaction was disappointing. That blew the lid off everything with people’s impatience to know what was going on. He’s not in ‘blaming the media’ mode. He’s just really upset that his wife is having to go through all of this with her recovery, and then having to think about making statements about a family photo.”
In light of the decision by the King to reveal his cancer diagnosis and the princess’s contrasting request for medical privacy, the question of what is wrong with Kate is at the heart of the storm. Those familiar with the couple’s thinking believe they will disclose more information about her recovery in due course, but on their terms.
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A royal source said: “They are at their most open when out interacting with members of the public and I can see a world in which the princess might discuss her recovery out on engagements. If she was going to do it, that’s how she would do it.” A friend says: “They will want to be clear and more open, but they’ll do it when they feel ready. I would expect that to be her instinct and it will be her call. They’re not going to be rushed.”
Nor should they be, says a source: “In Kate’s case, there is almost nobody else in the world whose face, body, clothes are more judged than hers. So it’s entirely right for them not to want to be drawn into a game about what is going on with her health. What is happening is exactly what they said would happen — she would spend two weeks in hospital and be back after Easter. So what if they haven’t pushed her out there to wave from the back of a car? She is not a show pony.”
The source, who has known William, 41, and Kate, 42, since their days as a young couple at St Andrews University where they met, recalls William’s priority at the time of their engagement in 2010 — as he promised her parents Carole and Michael Middleton — that he would protect her to the best of his ability when she joined the royal family.
Having watched his mother, Diana Princess of Wales, become one of the most hounded women in the world, history repeating itself remains one of his greatest fears. The source added: “William has always made it clear he wants to shield his family and his friends from the madness of some media where he can. He is approaching this from his desire to protect Kate and his family and not get drawn into the media and social media craziness. Kate is smart, tough, resilient and has good common sense. They will keep their cool heads over it. The public should leave her to recover in peace and leave William to do both his job as the Prince of Wales and his job of looking after his wife and his family as best he can.”
‘They don’t obsess like Harry but…’
In recent weeks, Kate has been at Lambrook to support the children. On Thursday, William cheered on Princess Charlotte, eight, as she played in a football match. Those close to William say that the family “bubble” he and Kate have created at their home in Windsor, Adelaide Cottage, is his top priority.
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After school, it is just the five of them at home, with Kate, rather than a cook or housekeeper, usually preparing dinner. By his own admission, William is no chef. What he has found especially challenging in recent weeks, say friends, is the feeling that the couple’s bubble is coming under threat, and that his wife is experiencing some of what his mother went through.
Friends say the couple are fully aware of the recent news coverage and some of the more outlandish and lurid conspiracy theories about them on social media. “They’re not like [Prince] Harry, obsessing and scrolling through Twitter, but they know it has broken through. They follow the news and see the BBC breaking news alerts,” says a friend who is in close touch with both.
“Social media has provided the media with plenty of content and the speculation around their marriage is just cruel. These are people with three small children going through the hardest time they’ve had to go through as a family, with that as an awful backdrop. They are trying to keep things as normal as possible for the kids, but it’s not easy.”
On Thursday morning, visiting a youth centre in west London, William appeared to allude to the social media storms, when a young woman told him if she wasn’t at the centre, she would just be “scrolling” on her mobile phone. William mused that she must “feel better coming here, not on your phone”, admitting that “grown-ups are guilty of it, too … we have got to be better at it. We spend ages on our phones.”
As the only one of them currently out on manoeuvres, and in the absence of his father who is not undertaking public engagements while receiving cancer treatment, William has tried to put his best foot forward. He joined the Queen at the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey on Monday, attended an engagement that evening for his Earthshot environmental awards, and held the annual Earthshot board meeting at Windsor on Wednesday.
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On Thursday night, he attended the Diana Award charity’s legacy awards at the Science Museum, seemingly unperturbed that shortly before his arrival, across the pond, the Duchess of Sussex announced the launch of her new lifestyle and homeware range, American Riviera Orchard, selling jams, cutlery and nut butter.
In his speech, William paid tribute to Diana as a mother who “taught me that everyone has the potential to give something back; that everyone in need deserves a supporting hand in life. That legacy is something that both Catherine and I have sought to focus on through our work.”
‘He’s OK, but it is hard’
At Wednesday’s Earthshot board meeting, William was “on excellent form, fully focused, engaged and thinking ahead to Cape Town” where this year’s awards ceremony will be held in November. On Monday, he will be in Sheffield to unveil new financial commitments secured through his Homewards initiative to tackle homelessness.
Away from work, a friend describes how he is coping with the events of the last few months, including his father’s cancer diagnosis: “Privately, he’s dealing with more than he has for a long time in his life and it’s tough to see. He is OK, but it is hard.”
Helping the couple navigate the current terrain is Ian Patrick, William’s new private secretary, a former diplomat who was appointed MBE for international peacekeeping. He has been in post for less than a fortnight but is already a hit in the household. “Ian is fabulous — thank God he arrived at the perfect moment,” a royal insider says. “He’s fantastic, really calm, super smart. He is perfect for William, and William is really pleased he’s there. He’s been funny, calm and very clear about not reacting to everything.”
William and Kate have also been “buoyed” by public support and the sense that “the public sentiment is not the same as on TikTok”. On Tuesday, the Buckingham Palace switchboard “rang off the hook” with messages of support for them.
After a tumultuous few weeks and months, royal insiders say there will be no big “rethink” over how the couple move forwards. They will simply endeavour to keep calm and carry on, as Queen Elizabeth so often did in the final years of her life when family drama escalated.
“I don’t think they should engineer what they do next,” says one who has been in touch with the couple. “The royals are at their best when they get on with their job. Don’t strategise about how to recover ground lost over Photogate, do what you were always intending to do, and when you take the next picture, make sure you take enough so you don’t have to use Photoshop.”
