It was supposed to put an end to conspiracy theories.
But it succeeded only in pouring fuel on them and amplifying them to a wider audience.
The Princess of Wales ‘manipulated’ photo drama is an avoidable crisis that offers many crisis communication lessons for others.
The photo showed Kate in a chair surrounded by her three children and was released to mark Mother’s Day.
The image was said to have been taken by her husband, William, earlier in the week in Windsor.
And it was the first time she had been seen since abdominal surgery two months earlier.
“Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months,” she posted on social media.
The image clearly aimed to reassure the public about her health and end the conspiracy theories that have surrounded her on social media and gradually become more far-fetched and sinister.
Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months.
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) March 10, 2024
Wishing everyone a Happy Mother's Day. C
📸 The Prince of Wales, 2024 pic.twitter.com/6DywGBpLLQ
Yet, the move quickly backfired.
A few hours later, the Associated Press became the first photo agency to issue a “kill notification” – an industry term used to retract a photo issued for publication.
It said: “At closer inspection it appears that the source has manipulated the image. No replacement photo will be sent.”
The image was also subsequently withdrawn by Reuters, Getty Images and AFP, among others.
Consequently, a picture released to crush conspiracy theories, wild rumours and gossip only succeeded in creating new ones and amplifying them to a bigger audience previously unconcerned about Kate’s whereabouts and apparent disappearance.
It also created days of intense media scrutiny, as well as a frenzy of jokes and memes.
So, what crisis communication lessons can we learn from this?
Speed
You must act quickly when you are in the firing line, as we stress during our crisis media management courses.
That could be as little as 15 minutes.
The photo of Kate and her family was withdrawn by picture agencies on Sunday.
No comment from Kensington Palace tonight after at least 3 international pictures agencies refuse to distribute this morning’s photo of Kate and her children. Some of them (@AP ) have claimed “the source [the palace] has manipulated the image”. pic.twitter.com/ppOwDtPr9P
— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) March 10, 2024
But it was not until around 11am the next day we heard a response from the royal family.
In an Instagram post, the Princess of Wales said: “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing.
“I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day. C.”
Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day. C
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) March 11, 2024
The response coming from Kate and her taking ownership of the issue are good crisis communication moves. But why the delay? The media and social media move at breakneck speed.
And the longer you stay silent, the more you allow others to control the narrative and give the story life.
Open communication
Kate’s statement is brief.
We learnt that she edited the image herself.
But we don’t know why, apart from the fact she is a keen amateur photographer who does some image editing.
The explanation is vital information needed to try to prevent the spread of rumour and speculation.
If the reason for the image manipulation is as innocuous and innocent as the statement suggests, why not say why you felt the need to make the changes?
Perhaps one of the children had their eyes closed or was looking the wrong way. Open and proactive communication is needed during a crisis - and is required here to show the photo was not altered to suggest a picture of health.
Another approach – and a seemingly obvious PR solution - would have been to release the original unedited photo so people could see what changes were made.
But Kensington Palace has rejected requests for that image.
Trust
In a crisis, maintaining trust is crucial.
Trust can take years to build and can be lost in a day if a crisis is poorly handled.
And trust has been badly damaged by this embarrassing episode, if not broken.
Now, you can argue – quite rightly in my view – that there are more important stories around.
But what has happened undoubtedly impacts reputation.
How can people trust the next health update? What else might the royals try to alter?
Future pictures that are released will be subjected to forensic scrutiny, and people will question them even if they have not been edited.
Modern media
The humiliating photo episode has exposed the royal PR machine struggling to keep pace with the modern world.
It has failed to meet the hunger for information on Kate and her recovery.
And that has allowed conspiracy theories and questions about her whereabouts to grow.
Of course, there needs to be a balance between the confidentiality of those in the public eye and the desire for information.
But completely keeping her out of public view over a long period has allowed wild rumours to grow that occasional proactive updates on her recovery and (unedited) photographs could have helped avoid.
Additionally, the speed at which the royal machine has responded to the fallout has been archaic.
It needed to explain what had happened much, much earlier.
A report from the Associated Press said: “The Kensington Palace media office is not open on weekends and a voicemail left for a spokesperson was not immediately returned.”
It’s 2024.
Crises don’t just strike during normal work hours. We live in a world of 24/7 media, and organisations must be able to respond quickly to what is happening.
Failure to do so will see you quickly lose control and surrender the narrative to those who can respond.
Fake news
I don’t pretend to be a photography expert.
But this story shows just how damaging an altered image can be in the age of fake news.
It impacts credibility, transparency and trust and whips up fears of misinformation.
Comms teams must ensure they understand who took the images they use and know whether they have been altered. If an image has been altered, be open and honest about it.
It's possible to feel the issue has been overblown and that this was an entirely avoidable reputation hit.
The mainstream UK media, for its part, has been pretty forgiving – The Sun told readers to “lay off Kate” and called the attacks on her about the photo “absurd”.
But the story has created headlines across the planet and is still rumbling on.
And the coverage and scrutiny will only get greater when Kate is ready to return to the public duty picture.
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