The Princess of Wales should consider filming a candid and unedited video clip to show the public she is OK and to end an ongoing PR crisis, commentators have suggested.
Kate Middleton faced a significant backlash earlier this week after a photograph she released to celebrate the U.K.'s Mother's Day on March 10 was removed from some of the world's largest picture agency libraries when evidence that it had been edited was highlighted online.
The Associated Press was among the news agencies to issue a "kill" notice for the image, which was supplied to it by the palace for distribution to media outlets. The image of the princess and her three children reportedly violated guidelines regarding Photoshopping and digital manipulation.
On Monday, Kate issued a rare personal apology via social media, saying that "like many amateur photographers," she does occasionally "experiment with editing." She also apologized "for any confusion" the photograph caused.
The scandal escalated over the photograph, which had a dual purpose, serving as Kate's first official image since she stepped out of the public eye in January to undergo and recover from abdominal surgery.
The limited updates on Kate provided by Kensington Palace gave rise to widespread speculation about her health and whereabouts, with the Photoshop controversy only adding to this as she remains behind doors.
In a discussion on the BBC's Reliable Sauce podcast, Newsweek's chief royal correspondent, Jack Royston, pointed to the seriousness of Kate's PR gaffe and the steps Kensington Palace could take to improve her standing in the eyes of the public.
"Kensington Palace, all of their communications [throughout Kate's surgery recovery] have been along the lines of: 'It was a simple procedure. It was planned. It was successful. Her recovery is doing well,'" he said.
"They've not acknowledged any kind of struggle or anything difficult, and that obviously then makes people think: Well, if everything's just fine then why can't they just release a picture? Like, why can't you just do a video?
"That, people don't really understand," Royston said.
On how the palace could move the narrative surrounding Kate in a more positive direction and rescue her, and itself, from a PR crisis, Royston suggested simply reassuring people with a candid, unedited video.
"In terms of what Kensington Palace could do next," he said, "they could look at doing a video, Kate doing a video, just completely candid, not trying to make it look perfect, not trying to make it look polished but actually, if anything, leaning in to a really naturalistic [representation]."
Reliable Sauce host Jonelle Awomoyi asked whether Kate should do a "TikTok" video, to which Royston agreed.
"Why can't she just post a little selfie and say: 'Guys, I'm good. I'm good, you know' or 'I'm not so good, please respect me,'" she said.
Royston responded that whatever the medium the palace chooses to release anything in, the main priority now is for people to rebuild their trust in information that Kate and Kensington put forward.
"People just want to see that she's OK, and the thing is, because people just literally don't understand why she wouldn't actively want to just do that, that just kind of amplifies the conspiracy theories and people thinking: This just does not make sense, why is it so hard to get one picture of her?' he said.
"Where you have a vacuum, people fill that vacuum with wild theories," he added.
"For the palace, it's like nobody's going to just instinctively trust them ever again, and it's a crisis, it's a massive crisis for them. But Kensington Palace must be a reliable source of information."
Newsweek approached Kensington Palace via email for comment.
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.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
fairness meter
To Rate This Article
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
