Waiting for future development

 Update:  The Princess of Wales has issued a statement.

Earlier today, Kensington Palace released a new photo of the Princess of Wales and her three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.  Today is Mothering Sunday in the United Kingdom.

@HRH The Prince of Wales

About ten hours after Kensington Palace released the photo, three news agencies and one photo agency, the Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France Press, and Getty Photos issued a Kill Notice informing clients to remove the photo from all their platforms including social media.  Other news

This is not an uncommon action within the media, but this particular notice got attention because it is about the photo released by Kensington Palace.   The first non-pap photo of the Princess of Wales since Christmas Day and the announcement she would undergo abdominal surgery.

This photo was taken by the Prince of Wales, not noted for his photography skills.

The AP said it removed the photo "because it appeared to be manipulated, fueling more conjecture."

The Associated Press is the world's largest news-gathering organization, a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its member newspapers.

The AP and the other organizations "initially published the photo," but later "retracted the image because at closer inspection," it appeared the "source had manipulated the image in a way that did not meet AP photo standards."

According to the AP, the photo "shows an inconsistency in the alignment of Princess Charlotte's left hand."

Kensington Palace has refused to comment ... for now.  William could have taken more than one image and used Photoshop to make the photo look better, at least in his eyes, and, perhaps, KP's Communication staff.

Kill notices for photos and stories are more common than you think.  The notices are sent to the clients and not released to the general public.  One can understand the whys for sharing the Kill notice with their readers -- and the general public.

William or the staff may have tried too hard to make a perfect picture.  Photoshop can turn a good photo into a stunning photograph.  I love taking photos and recently upgraded from a Canon DSLR to the Canon R7 mirrorless camera.  I wish I had Photoshop, but it is too expensive.  I shoot wildlife, the Washington Nationals, the Royals (not the baseball team), and my vacations.  I recently took this photo of a duck couple, a male mallard, and his Hybrid wife.  This is the fourth year the couple has spent their spring and summer, nesting and raising ducklings before heading south for the winter.  

I took this photo - it would be better if I could get the rushes out of the mallard's eye.  This is a couple in love.  

@Marlene Eilers Koenig

With Photoshop or another editing program,  the flaws would be removed.  

I am sure William and Catherine did not realize the photo was not well edited.  It is a lovely photograph.  William's intention was good, but, next time, do not use a cell phone. This was a major Photoshop fail. 

This is not the first time a royal photographer has caused controversy.  In 1971, Patrick Lichfield (5th Earl of Lichfield) took the official photograph of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh's 25th wedding anniversary photo.  This was a group photo that included most members of the Royal Family.

Years later, he acknowledged he used heads from different images from the shoot to make the final photo.

@Lichfield

Please do not turn this into another conspiracy theory!