Princess Charlotte Birthday Photo Raises Eyebrows

The portrait released by Kensington Palace to celebrate the ninth birthday of Princess Charlotte on Thursday, which was taken by Princess Kate, has raised eyebrows online; fans and critics have spotted a link it shares with the Mother's Day portrait that sparked a photo-editing scandal in March.

The princess' reworn raspberry cardigan for both images has prompted speculation among social-media users, with some questioning the motivation behind its inclusion. Newsweek approached Kensington Palace in London via email for comment.

Images released by Kensington Palace have faced increased scrutiny following the Mother's Day scandal. Kate issued a public apology after traces of editing were identified in a portrait of herself and her three children taken by Prince William in Windsor, Berkshire, in England.

The photo was of particular importance as it was the first officially released of Kate since stepping out of the public eye to undergo abdominal surgery in January. She then said that at the time of the photo backlash she had been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing a course of preventive chemotherapy.

Since photo agencies issued "kill" notices to news agencies over the Mother's Day image, William and Kate have moved away from the traditional form of releasing royal celebration portraits to agencies ahead of events. For the birthday of Prince Louis and the couple's 13th wedding anniversary in April, images were released through the Wales' social-media channels. This was followed on May 2 by the birthday portrait of Princess Charlotte.

In the image, the princess is shown standing in an outdoor setting, smiling broadly and wearing a raspberry cardigan with denim skirt and blue blouse combination.

Following the image's release, users on X (formerly Twitter) quickly highlighted that the cardigan, identified as being sourced from French fashion brand Cyrillus, was the same one that the princess was seen wearing in the controversial Mother's Day photo.

This sparked a wave of posts and speculation, ranging from claims that the image had been taken on the day of the Mother's Day image, despite reports saying it had been created in the days before its release, to fans suggesting Kate was "trolling" her critics with the reference.

In addition to Charlotte's cardigan, some users also highlighted that Prince Louis appeared to be wearing the same shirt he had done in the Mother's Day photo for his own birthday portrait released a month later.

"They must not have gotten any new clothes this year," wrote one X user, posting a photo highlighting the matches.

"Do these Royal children only own 1 set of clothes?" posted another. "Louis in the same shirt as the Mother's Day photo last week. Now, Charlotte in the same cardigan and ruffled neck shirt (albeit a "different" color shirt) as the Mother's Day photo. WHY does this keep happening?"

In response, fans of the royal jumped to her defense. "She is trolling the trolls and I'm here for it," wrote on user of Kate in a post with over 70,000 views.

"That Mother's Day photo controversy started with Charlotte's cardigan sleeve. Now Catherine is making a point that, this picture isn't altered. She's messing with all the doubting Thomas's [people questioning her] out there," wrote another. This is a reference to the fact that one of the editing traces spotted in the Mother's Day image occurred around Charlotte's sleeve.

Following Kate's apology—issued a day after the Mother's Day photo was released, which said "like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing"—neither the princess nor Kensington Palace has directly addressed the photo or the scandal surrounding it.

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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