Kate, the photo and trying to solve the conspiracy theory crisis
This Is Why
Sky News
4.0 • 552 Ratings
🗓️ 11 March 2024
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Major international picture agencies told media outlets to "kill" the photo from their systems 12 hours after the picture was released by Kensington Palace on Sunday. AP told Sky News the photo broke their manipulation rules as it shows an "inconsistency in the alignment of Princess Charlotte's left hand".
Kill notices are uncommon and usually due to issues with copyright or journalistic process – and this has never happened to a royal picture.
On this edition of the Sky News Daily, Sarah-Jane Mee speaks to Adam Parker from our data and forensics unit, who reveals what the team have learned after analysing the photo’s metadata.
Plus, PR expert Mark Borkowski on whether this has fanned rather than extinguished online rumours, and our Royal Correspondent Rhiannon Mills on where this leaves the royal family.
Senior podcast producer: Annie Joyce
Podcast producer: Sydney Pead
Promotion producer: David Chipakupaku
Editor: Wendy Parker
Transcript
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| 1:02.0 | Cock up, conspiracy or confusion. |
| 1:05.1 | You're probably in one of those three camps on the Princess of Wales Mother's Day picture with her three children. |
| 1:11.4 | It was meant to calm the social media rumours about Kate's health and lack of public |
| 1:15.7 | appearances. It did the opposite. Her way of explaining why a bit of Princess Charlotte's |
| 1:22.1 | wrist was missing, or why Prince Louis's little finger seemed longer than his index finger, |
| 1:29.1 | she had experimented with picture editing like many other amateur photographers. I mean, that's probably okay for you |
| 1:34.3 | and I, but when you're married to the future king and you're handing over that image to picture |
| 1:39.1 | agencies to distribute around the world, the reaction is a little different. With the memes back into overdrive |
| 1:46.9 | and picture agencies using terms like kill notification, how can the royals shake off their |
| 1:52.9 | latest PR crisis? This is Sarah Jane Meat with the Sky News Daily. And as well as talking about |
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