Chris Allerton, the photographer responsible for Prince Archie’s christening, has slammed suggestions that his photo of the royal baby was edited.
Chris called the editing claims a “load of cobblers” in an interview with The Daily Mail on Wednesday, March 20. Additionally, he shared his frustration with several other outlets, defending his picture of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s firstborn child.
“I would like to state very clearly and thus clarify matters that the photograph you are referring to, taken by me at Windsor Castle on July 6, 2019, has not been manipulated and was distributed to the best of my knowledge in adherence with the submission guidelines required by Getty Images, via the Palace press office,” Chris told Express U.K. on March 20.
The photo in question was taken in July 2019, when Archie was only 2 months old, and Getty Images claims the image had been “digitally enhanced.” However, the photo agency didn’t specify what parts of the picture had been edited. On March 20, they retracted their original statement.
“The image in question had an editor’s note placed on it while under review and that note has now been removed with no issues found,” a spokesperson for Getty Images told USA Today.
The royal family continues to face an abundance of scrutiny regarding the editing of official photos. Controversy surrounded Princess Kate Middleton’s Mother’s Day picture that she and husband Prince William shared from their social media accounts. The picture shared on March 10 showed Kate, 42, sitting in a chair, with her arms around her three kids, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. The internet began to immediately dissect the photo and pointed out parts of the image that looked altered, like Charlotte’s sleeve and Louis’ fingers. The following day on March 11, Kate released a statement and admitted that she had edited the picture.
“Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” Kate wrote via the official Kensington Palace X account. “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.”
However, Kate’s admission and the “kill notice” sent out to news publications caused a flurry of more speculation regarding the princess’ whereabouts and questions about if other royal images had been edited.
On Monday, March 18, Getty Images put out an “editorial advisory” for another one of Kate’s images. This one featured the late Queen Elizabeth II surrounded by several of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren at Balmoral and was taken in 2022.
“Getty Images has reviewed the image in question and placed an editor’s note on it, stating that the image has been digitally enhanced at source,” a spokesperson for the photo agency said.
There were several parts of the photo flagged as altered, including a line of Queen Elizabeth’s skirt that is out of place and a dark spot behind George’s shirt collar.
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