A photo of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, announcing the duchess’s pregnancy with Lilibet, was edited after being shot.
Misan Harriman, the London-based photographer who captured the intimate black and white photo of the royal couple in 2021, which was shared around the world to announce Meghan’s second pregnancy, has previously discussed how the final image wasn’t quite what he had originally created and that edits were made to the file.
In a resurfaced recording on the Private Passions podcast on BBC Radio 3, the Sussexes’ old friend Mr Harriman said: “It’s amazing what you can do with technology,” as he explained how the final image was created and the described as ‘virtual shooting’.
It comes as friends of Harry and Meghan weighed in on the social media storm surrounding Kensington Palace’s photo editing blunder, after the Princess of Wales admitted to ‘experimenting with editing’ on the Mother’s Day photo of herself with her children.
Earlier today, sources close to the Sussexes said Harry and Meghan would have been ‘devastated’ if they had made the same Photoshop mistake as Kate – but added that the Duchess would not have slipped due to ‘erratic attention to detail’.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s camp were branded ‘hypocrites’ after their maternity photo was revealed to have been doctored
However, after it emerged that the picture-perfect photo from Harry and Meghan’s second baby announcement had been altered to add a willow tree in the background, royal expert Angela Levin branded the couple’s camp as “hypocrites.”
She said The sun: ‘In their photo, a tree has been edited to create a special background, so how dare their camp say anything about Catherine’s?’
In a resurfaced recording of Mr Harriman on the Private Passions podcast, the photographer said: ‘My most famous virtual shoot is the portrait I took of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as they announced their pregnancy.’
He revealed that he took the photo remotely, as he was in a different location from the royal couple during the pandemic, and used technology that allowed him to communicate with the Sussexes and tell them how to pose, while he was remotely ‘ pressed the shutter button’. a completely different place.
The podcast host added, “They weren’t actually under a willow tree, were they? Weren’t they outside in a meadow?’
Mr. Harriman replied, “Yes, they were lost in their love, at home, in their garden, at ease, celebrating new joy.”
The Princess of Wales admitted on Monday that the Mother’s Day photo released by Kensington Palace was photoshopped
The revelation comes as the Princess of Wales is ‘feeling miserable’ following a social media storm caused by a photoshopped image released by Kensington Palace on Sunday to mark Mother’s Day.
Bizarre and baseless conspiracy theories were fueled by the ‘photoshopped’ image of Kate, 42, and her children Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5, after international news agencies rushed to publish reports of the murder.
As the theories threaten to spiral out of control, many have suggested that the speculation could be quashed if Kensington Palace releases the original photo of Kate and her children, before it was edited.
And die-hard royal fans may recall that this is exactly how the Duke and Duchess of Sussex handled their own ‘photoshop gate’ when they were accused of altering their 2019 Christmas card featuring Prince Archie.
Fans thought the adorable photo of the couple with their eldest son may have been edited because Meghan’s face was in focus, despite her being in the back of the photo.
The photo shows Harry and Meghan smiling as they sat on the floor near their Christmas tree, while Archie, who was just over six months old at the time, crawled towards the camera with a curious expression.
After people noticed that Meghan’s face was in more focus than Harry’s, despite the couple both being in the background of the photo, social media was ablaze with theories that the photo had been altered to bring the Duchess closer .
“Look at Meghan’s face, it’s photoshopped. Her face is clear and everything else is blurry. Archie’s is also photoshopped,” one person claimed.
Another posted on X/Twitter: ‘This might be the worst photoshopped photo I’ve ever seen. And again with black and white.’
The card was not officially released through official royal channels and first appeared on an unverified X account called The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust.
Despite widespread speculation that the photo may have been altered, Meghan’s friend Janina Gavankar, who claims to have taken the photo, shared the original frame on her Instagram account – which turned out to be the exact same photo as the later version that was shared. on the X account.
She posted the photo with the caption: “So proud I took the Christmas photo for one of my best friends and her family” and clarified that it was the original.
After Kate confirmed on Monday that she had edited the Mother’s Day image released on the official channels of the Prince and Princess of Wales, many suggested she could easily put to rest speculation about what happened by doing the same and posting the original, unedited photo to share.
Kate’s statement read: ‘Like many amateur photographers, I occasionally experiment with editing.
“I wanted to apologize for any confusion the family photo we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone who celebrated had a very happy Mother’s Day.’
Today it is claimed that the Princess of Wales is ‘feeling miserable’ after the blunder and is likely to be in a ‘fragile mental and physical state’.
Royal commentator Jennie Bond, who has covered the royal family for decades, told GB News it was time for people to ‘fire’ the princess following the scandal.
She said Kate ‘now has to feel intense pressure when seen in public’ after her major surgery in January.
Despite calls for the original image to be published, Kensington Palace insisted the unedited photo of Kate and her children would not be reissued.
And Ms Bond warned against ‘bullying her into publishing all the footage’, adding that the 42-year-old mother-of-three would be ‘absolutely miserable’.
She said Kate’s Mother’s Day was ‘obviously ruined by this row’ and that she ‘didn’t look too happy’ when she was photographed in a car with William yesterday.
Ms Bond told GB News: ‘We are in danger of bullying a lady who is trying to recover from a very serious operation. I think about how she must be feeling this morning. Absolutely miserable, I think.
‘Her Mother’s Day has clearly been ruined by this argument. She was photographed in the car with William yesterday. From what we can tell, she didn’t look too happy. She must now feel under intense pressure whenever she is seen in public.
‘The pressure has doubled and redoubled. I think she is in a fragile mental and physical state. And we have to fire her.”