'At least I Didn't Photoshop it': King of Netherlands Ruthlessly Mocks Kate Middleton's Editing Scandal
March 15 2024, Published 4:30 p.m. ET
King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands seemingly took a dig at Kate Middleton following the British royal family's Photoshop scandal, RadarOnline.com has learned.
On Tuesday, Willem-Alexander, 56, appeared to mock the PR crisis unfolding across the pond while greeting a group of school-aged children at a royal engagement in Zutphen.
As OK Magazine.com reported, while the king was greeting the youngsters, one girl mentioned a photo she saw of the monarch and his family, to which he quipped back with a joke about the Princess of Wales.
Willem-Alexander laughed as he told the young girl, "At least I didn't Photoshop it."
Willem-Alexander referenced the apology Kate issued after posting a photo of herself and her three children for Mother's Day in the U.K.
The photo — posted to the Kensington Royal official X account and credited Prince William as the photographer — was released amid growing speculation and conspiracy theories about Kate's whereabouts.
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As this outlet reported, Kate underwent abdominal surgery in January and was expected to return to royal duties after Easter; however, internet sleuths and fans suggested something might be wrong as the mother-of-three hadn't been seen since Christmas Day.
The Mother's Day post quickly backfired when the AP and Reuters issued a "kill notice" after inspecting the image, which contained several bizarre errors that fueled more theories.
Kate was sitting with her three children — Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5 — in the photo. Several errors stuck out, including Charlotte's wrist being oddly cut off, blurry features, a misaligned background — and a missing wedding ring on Kate's finger.
After the embarrassing kill notice, she made the unusual move of issuing a public apology.
One day after posting the photo, Kate posted on X, "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."
After the apology, more rumors spiraled out of control, particularly about William and his alleged mistress, Rose Hanbury.
Others noted the crown's well-known policy to "never complain, never explain" as a reason for fueling concern for Kate's whereabouts.