Was Prince William & Kate’s Monday car photo a manipulated image too?

Several hours after the Princess of Wales’s photo-editing apology on Monday, the Daily Mail published a “new photo” of Prince William and Kate together in the back of a car, being driven out of Windsor. We were told – as in, Kensington Palace specifically briefed the Mail – that William was dropping off Kate at a private appointment before he headed out to the Commonwealth service at Westminster Abbey. The Mail published the photos closely-cropped, and within a few hours, several British and American outlets picked up the same photos and published them too. In every version of these photos, Kate (or “Kate”) is turned away from the camera, looking off to a brick wall, while William is seen in profile, staring down at his phone. All you can see of “Kate” is a sliver of eyebrow and the side of her cheek.

The thing is, as other outlets ran the photos, they didn’t crop the image as closely as the Mail did. Which has left people confused about whether this image is false as well, because the wider shot reveals significant inconsistencies with the brick in the background, and it looks like yet another digitally altered photo. The wider shot has been published in People and Page Six.

To me, this is even more sinister than the Kensington Palace clowns f–king up an edit on a “private photo” for Mother’s Day. This involves paparazzi, photo agencies and media outlets publishing a photo of deeply questionable origin, which could have been handed out by Kensington Palace. There are even conspiracy theorists positing that this photo is something repurposed from last year, although I’m coming down more on the side of “that was not actually Kate beside him.” Because you know what? I do not even believe that Kate is in Windsor right now. Anyway, another f–king mess.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Instar.

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204 Responses to “Was Prince William & Kate’s Monday car photo a manipulated image too?”

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  1. MrsH says:

    True breaking news from the WanK clowns will be when they DON’T lie and manipulate.

    • Jan90067 says:

      At this point, would we even *know* if they would? Unless I see Kate with a newspaper showing the day’s date WITH an independent fingerprint expert ascertaining this is indeed Kate, not sure I’d believe them.

    • AlpineWitch says:

      I don’t think I can classify this as just ‘lying’, this is shameless trolling at this point and/or taking the piss at us peasants.

      The bricks through the car windows
      1) are clearly different from those in the background;
      2) appear as the ‘car’ isn’t moving, while in the newly created one the car is actually moving and they’re slightly out of focus.

      Do they think we’re fools????

  2. Amy Bee says:

    I mean, anything is possible with these clowns. No doubt this was a pap drive authorised by KP.

    • ML says:

      *gasp!* After hammering on K’s privacy and respecting her wish not to be papped?! Amy Bee, you shock me!

      To be clear, IF that woman is K and this IS a real pap pic, that woman is definitely NOT wishing to be photographed.

    • Megan says:

      This is some world class trolling from William and Kate. But are they trolling us or Charles?

      • Shawna says:

        They don’t have the intelligence to troll us.

      • nutella toast says:

        …what if this is Cams and Charles calling W&K’s popularity into question and putting them in their place? I was looking at popularity polls (some UK site – can’t remember which one) and W&K have far higher approval ratings and popularity than C&C – it’s not enough scandal at this point to sink W&K, but it’s enough to stop the “thank you, next” conversation and William’s people openly talking about C’s demise? Either way, this is a literal royal mess and just sloppy.

  3. StillDouchesOfCambridge says:

    Omg they’re in such deep sht. 😂 can’t wait to see what happens next with fake pap pics!!

  4. 2legit2quit says:

    Yep! Internet sleuths already called it out and “kate” is a photo from 2016. She has on the same hat, hairstyle, and they photoshopped out the earring. https://www.lipstickalley.com/attachments/img_5455-jpeg.5681785/

    • SunnyDays says:

      Oh my God.

      This is so bad. Why do they keep doing this????? Something is very wrong with her. I didn’t believe that until this week but now there’s no other explanation. I know the other theory is that she’s playing hardball with W and is refusing to participate in his games, but she is too vain for that. She cares about her public image too much. If she could, she’d be seen. Or is W not letting her be seen? But how could he think doctoring photos, getting caught and then doing it again is better??? His options must be very limited…like K is incapacitated.

    • ML says:

      Wow, impressive sleuthing! That’s definitely the photo they used—after they eliminated her earring, they didn’t even bother to finish a fake earlobe. They just added this halfbaked image to “fool” people. Or test to see if they can still submit photoshopped images and get them printed after yesterday’s fiasco. That might have been the goal instead.

    • JP says:

      I’m not really seeing it.

      • Becks1 says:

        I think there are similarities but I don’t think its the exact same, because she appears to be wearing a turtleneck in the car. If they were going to edit her into the photo they have hundreds of pictures of her actually in a car to choose from, they wouldn’t need to use a random one from France from 2016.

        But also, at this point, who the eff knows.

      • Smart&Messy says:

        “they wouldn’t need to use a random one from France from 2016.”
        You don’t know that. I keep thinking that they’ve reached rock bottom and yet here we are every day watching them sink lower.

      • ML says:

        If you look at the color photo on the right (the original), you pay attention how they cut off the front of K’s hair in the edit. If you follow the hat at the back of her head, they eliminated the rim and slimmed the hat in the edit. There’s an extra bit in the car picture at the back of her neck which might be from whichever picture they pasted K into. The collar is dulled, but there. Look at the ear in the car picture: it’s unfinished and there’s a weird “jump” behind her jaw by her neck: if you go tho the Mother’s Day photo, you can see similar weirdness by her zipper. This photo was definitely used.

      • Shawna says:

        @Becks1, they might use a “random” one because they think no one will remember it to call it out. Too recently and someone would notice.

      • Becks1 says:

        @Shawna, that’s true, and I am not putting anything past these people. I just think there are probably a dozen pictures of Kate that people could insist are this car pic, since its so dark and hard to see her. There’s a whole argument that this is from Christmas 2023 as well.

      • sparrow says:

        I think there’s a bit too much emphasis on its having to be an exact lift. If it’s another fake, I suspect there was more a steer to get an image that would work as “back of head” as a base to further work. If this is the lifted image, you can see they’ve changed some of the hair fall over her right ear. I buy it and I don’t. If I don’t buy it, she’s seriously ill and at home, which is what Bower wrote. Yes, he’s a poor journalist, sensationalist liar, and writer, but I think he got it pretty much right. And there didn’t seem to be the security or assistance personnel around the car door for her. The only thing that rings true is W’s total lack of courtesy towards his wife.

    • Lady Esther says:

      Wow. Just wow… who could have thought to try the same trick AGAIN? Way to dominate several news cycles, guys…

      • BeanieBean says:

        To use a pap shot of her in a car, after putting up such a STINK about last week’s pap shot of her in a car, is just…I don’t know, is there a word beyond hubris?? 😳

      • Becks1 says:

        @beaniebean that’s where I keep going back and forth on this whole thing. well this part of it.

        If it was a pap photo, then it was clearly staged and authorized, because we heard last week the british press does not run unauthorized pics (lol for days, but that’s what they said.) Now they’ll run this one and use it as proof of life?

        Tina Brown on GMA had a good point here, that many of us have said – all she has to do is wave through a car window. If that picture was meant to tell the public that Kate is recovering just fine, well, it didn’t. Had she turned towards the window and waved……it would be different.

        But if it wasn’t a pap shot and was fake, or the person in the car isn’t Kate – why stage that the same day you are being destroyed on a global scale for releasing a fake picture?

        Just any way you look at this picture its a mess.

      • Jaded says:

        @Beaniebean — malignant audacity? (I know it’s 2 words…)

    • BlueNailsBetty says:

      Oh my God. Oh my GOD. OH MY GOD.

      I am speechless. My flabber is completely gasted.

    • paintybox says:

      Yep, that’s the same photo, planted to appear as if she’s in that car. Really bizarre how they keep doing this. They’re trying to pretend she’s OK when she’s not, for whatever reason – maybe it’s an altered appearance, maybe it’s breakdown of marriage, maybe Kate had a serious mental breakdown. What’s concerning is the desperation behind these attempts, as if the public is stupid (and willing) enough to just swallow it. @SunnyDays, yes, that the options are very limited is a crucial point in all this. Their attempts at subterfuge get weirder by the day – like they think stalling for time will be the answer but meanwhile they’re damaging their credibility. They won’t get it back unless they come clean.

      • TybeeLucille says:

        There is absolutely no reason for all this except they cannot produce a pic of her and something is very wrong.

      • Cairidh says:

        I think she’s just put on weight and doesn’t want people to see her face looking chubby. Whether due to steroids or being tube fed normal quantities when she’s usually (probably) anorexic. And not being able to exercise 2 hours a day as usual.

        And I think she’s gone abroad to recover. If she was in Britain there would have been photo ops of the middletons and William visiting her. They would do that for PR even if they didn’t care about her welfare. They can’t if she’s not in the country.

    • StillDouchesOfCambridge says:

      Omg wtf is going on. I think they will need to show proof of life. Something wild and over the top freak is happening right now.

      • MollyF says:

        I don’t think she is in the UK. If she were, something would have been leaked by now.

      • Renee' says:

        Agnes, Agreed. I think it is the Christmas photo they re-used.

      • The Hench says:

        I started off going just – there’s something wrong that she won’t face the camera now I am:
        Oh my god – the bricks!!
        Yes – it’s the Christmas 2023 outfit – you can see the polo neck and the outline of the same hat
        And the final clincher for me – William is wearing the same tie for the Commonwealth service as for the Christmas Day walk.

        Now I am in SHOW US KATE NOW!!!! territory. WTAF??

    • Cessily says:

      They will never publish a photo again that isn’t examined under a microscope by the public and news organizations again.. this makes me smile.😊

    • acha says:

      I am facepalming so hard. That’s ridiculous.

    • Voominvava says:

      Definitely a very similar photo, but if you look at the ear, it is in a completely different spot. I lean towards what Kaiser said on Twitter. This is most likely not even Kate . In fact, it does look like it could be rose more than Kate…

      • Agnes says:

        I think it’s her ear, but they photoshopped the earring to be flesh toned (grey) so it makes her ear look bigger and bulgier. I’m leaning towards the 2016 photo, because the earring shape is the same as the weird ear bulge.

      • WiththeAmerican says:

        I can’t see what you’re referencing but the ear being moved is a classic facelift sign.

        So, things get weirder!

    • Lux says:

      TBH I don’t think their photoshop skills are that good. To match that image into William’s, with the same blue shade of the shadow and level of blurriness—they’re simply not that good. I think it’s an actual person in the car with him, whether it’s Kate or not.

      The bricks in the background, on the other hand…

    • fishface says:

      I dont think that is the same picture.

  5. Sandra says:

    This sounds like more of a conspiracy but doesn’t Kate ALWAYS wear earrings, even just little hoops? Even when the baby made its debut.

    My personal theory is that she may have had some sort of dramatic weight loss that she is getting treatment for. There is a reason they will not even show her face or profile.

    • CC730 says:

      I think she might have a facelift that turned very badly hence the bloated Kate in the photo with her mother.
      What I find astonishing that no one talk about is how a woman that barely do anything but take care of her children (according to KP) don’t have genuine recent photos with her children?
      I already knew that she had nannies for her kids but I think she never truly cared for them….

      • Dee(2) says:

        That could be the case if her face is swollen in the way that Madonna’s was. Although at this point the incompetence that they’re showing is going to make whatever is actually happening behind the scenes be a huge nothing burger that’s going to tank their standings. Or a huge deal that is going to tank their standings for lying and being secretive about a major issue. They’ve handled this and quite possibly the worst way imaginable.

  6. ML says:

    Good to know that they’ve spotted Nessie and she’s doing okay 👍
    Those bricks…I don’t think they could get the bricks from inside a moving car (through 2 sets of windows) sharply in focus whereas the bricks outside the car are all fuzzy. So, yeah, I don’t believe that is a real/ recent picture of W&K. I also don’t believe that K would have been going to an appointment in London on that day, because before her medical incident, she would have been headed to the Commonwealth service with William.

    • AMB says:

      Honestly, the bricks made me laugh out loud.

      Then Nessie and the yeti – I think I peed a little.

    • Agreatreckoning says:

      LOL, right! Clear shot of the bricks through 2 windows, yet, somehow, the people inside the car (one especially) are grainy.

  7. Jen says:

    But seriously, he’s dropping her off to an appt on his way to Commonwealth day? “Honey, I’m going right past your doctor’s office on the way to work, let’s save the gas, I’ll just drop you off before I head over to the office. You can Uber back?”
    Fucking made up nonsense for a photo op.
    Staged. Not her.
    And I’m Team “it’s Pippa” for the Carole M. pic. Unless Kate is swollen in the jowels these days.

    • Kitty says:

      Sorry to have to ask u this but did anyone aee Piers Morgan last night, well well talking about a turncoat ! He and his panel admitted that their was tension in de clown marriage, that Katie wanted out and that de Royal house have now broken their agreement with the media and not before long the Royal family will be no more !! So there u have it ,.l bet my house there will be an announcement soon , as Charles cannot let this tension continue …

      • Annie says:

        Wait, he said that Kate wants out? Is that some sort of face-saving tactic they’re negotiating? I can’t give too much credence to almost any theory yet b/c it’s such a disaster, but it’s super weird if someone like Morgan is saying that. Like a leak to warm up the public to the idea…

      • Liz says:

        I didn’t see it kitty even though I’m in UK. That’s quite something that they are now actually talking this way on tv.

      • Normades says:

        I don’t believe anything Piers has to say. I think it’s more that William wants her out and she’s playing hardball now. All these fuckups are coming from team Will imo and using her as a scapegoat

      • sparrow says:

        Kitty, no I haven’t seen that. I’ve been thinking, as have a few others on here, that the pressure to quit may well have come from Kate’s side. That she’s found her voice. She may have been suffering this illness for years without much support from her husband and his family. And I have sensed also that his washed out appearance may be because he’s fed up with her for not having played ball with the press and helping him handle facing the public. It could be 50/50. Or 70/30 her to him. If they do divorce, the ramifications will be huge. I’m still holding to the theory they won’t. But I’m wrong a lot of the time, even about a brick wall next to a car!

      • Eos says:

        Waity Katie wanted out? Ummm… I don’t know about that. Unless, William is cheating big time and she’s fed up??

    • Becks1 says:

      And then he had an Earthshot event afterwards, so who took Kate home? did she just hang around and wait for him?

  8. sparrow says:

    Goodness. I thought this was picked up yesterday by others on here and someone pointed out bricks can look different through windows? You know that feeling “the truth is somewhere in the middle”? I don’t even know where middle is anymore. MaryPester – is Charles at Balmoral? Just wondering, because he has slipped right through the floorboards. I seem to recall you know quite a bit about what’s going on with him. Not really related to the topic in hand, but I was thinking about where the rest of the family are at this point.

    • ee says:

      Have you clicked through to the photos at Page Six? When I first saw people talking about the bricks, I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt too, but when I looked at the photos on Page Six, there’s just no way that’s the same building above and below the car. It’s not just that it’s more/less fuzzy, the angle of the wall is completely different, and it a different style/shape of brick. I’m not sold on any particular theory of who edited it or why, but it’s so obvious that I can’t believe Page Six even published it as though it’s an unedited photo.

  9. Jen says:

    I wonder if the palace and press are eventually going to try to deflect by their usual disgusting attempts of blaming and/or trashing Harry and Meghan somehow. I hope not.

    • Tuesday says:

      I truly believe that if they could, they would. I can’t come up with the flimsiest link between this mess and the Sussexes. Some lackey at KP is probably poring over old Sussex photos to try to say that they use photoshop, too.

      • Underhill says:

        Already have seen that on twitter

      • Thelma says:

        We’re not talking about simple photoshop here. For the news agencies to issue a “photo kill” order, it means an ethical line has been crossed in manipulation… as in presenting a picture cobbled together from previous pics as a recent actual picture , w(en it’s not. THAT’s the manipulation they were concerned about. Harry and Meghan are living their best life and well out of this mess. I’m so glad they left the UK behind.

    • paintybox says:

      @Jen, believe me if they could, they probably would and they may revert to that in the future. Right now it seems like a little blast of truth is getting through the chinks, that W & K and KP are messing up their own pr in a catastrophic way – kind of like the way karma works, like a boomerang.

    • Jay says:

      Ironically, Archewell has been investing in research to try and combat exactly the kind of media disinformation and manipulation that the Wales are doing. They’re basically providing example after example of the kinds of harmful tactics that the Sussexes warned about!

    • Christine says:

      They already are. They want Meghan to “speak up for Kate”. No, seriously.

      • WiththeAmerican says:

        Oh, no. They can miss me with that! did Kate speak up for Meghan when she was falsely being smeared as lying about the potentially catastrophic car chase, which was actually life threatening?

        Has she ever spoken up even when she knew the press was lying about Meghan or when her own fans claim MM was never pregnant?

        Allow me: international humanitarian Meghan Markle cannot be dragged into idle gossip.

      • Agreatreckoning says:

        OMG! The balls. The same people that have called Meghan irrelevant and all sorts of other negative things say Meghan should speak up for Kate. You know, just like Kate did for her. /s

        @WiththeAmerican, love your last sentence!!! bonus points

  10. K.T says:

    I saw on Twitter the link to the photographer’s 2/3 pictures of the car on his website. Does anyone have that link again?

    Seems so weird if a photographer (not Kate or William lol) would photoshop an image after all of the recent drama…but the royalty has proven to be crazzzzzyy.

  11. Renae says:

    Looking side by side with the original snap (old pic) it is a match down to the hair bun. Check it out on Twitter.
    People pointing out brick colors does nothing for me as I’m used to seeing old bricks replaced with the odd newer brick.

    • Snuffles says:

      Different bricks that happen to line up perfectly within the car windows?

    • ee says:

      I don’t think it can be because of the wall being patched with new bricks, because if you look at the first photo on Page Six, there are two clearly defined corners/bends in the wall, but the wall seen through the car window is not only a completely different type of brick, it’s also a perfectly flat wall at an angle that doesn’t match any of the wall sections above the car. It would take an extremely odd style of repair that was extremely coincidentally well-aligned to produce this image without photo manipulation.

      • Gypsy says:

        I saw the alleged pap’s post and he was quoted as saying “The photo in question was taken at No. 39 high street” So me and my tinfoil hat headed over to Google Street View…. I can’t seem to find a way that the two different brick textures could possibly match.

        Yours in gossip…

        Gypsy and her tinfoil hat.

  12. MaryContrary says:

    Yes-whose brilliant idea was it to okay this photo? Was it the DM working directly with KP? Because we all said it was preposterous to show a 1/4 of a woman’s face as proof of life, plus “dropping her off at a private appointment” was ridiculous. I want the behind the scenes decision making on this photo.

  13. Nubia says:

    Lol that’s the Loch ness monster and who else ?

  14. Elvira says:

    The photographers watermark in on the image. He would be able to answer this question.

    • sparrow says:

      Interesting, again, Elvira. You’re very well placed to answer this – do you think it’s faked? If you’ve already said above, my apols, I’m just scrolling through like a madwoman while trying to answer work calls. Yes, I’ve got my priorities scrambled.

      • BeanieBean says:

        😉. I’m sitting here with two computers on my lab, work & personal.

      • sparrow says:

        I’m laughing, BeanieBean! Yesterday I couldn’t believe I got my work done, my house stuff done, inc my turn to cook, and made sense to anyone. I was still laughing about comments made on here until bedtime.

  15. WiththeAmerican says:

    If there hadn’t been two recent photo deceptions, I’d ignore this. But that profile has high cheekbones and a delicate brow bone in profile. Kate has had neither in the past. I can’t find a single picture of her in profile that looks like that.

    If I had to guess, it looks more like Rose’s petite, fine boned face. But I can’t believe they would do that. I mean, they can’t be that bad. They just can’t.

    Maybe she’s had plastic surgery, that’s the only thing that would account for this. Or photoshop.

    Lies, lies and more lies.

    • BlueNailsBetty says:

      Oh, It’s Kate…from 2016. 2Legit2Quit posted this 👇🏻 up top:

      https://www.lipstickalley.com/attachments/img_5455-jpeg.5681785/

      • WiththeAmerican says:

        I see the similarity there.

        Honestly, I’m not invested in any theory right now, because I’m just so perplexed why they would invite this again.

        All I know is I didn’t recognize that as her profile. There’s a heaviness to Kate’s cheeks and brow now. but who knows.

      • GoodWitchGlenda says:

        Here they’ve stepped on another rake…if Kate really is post surgery and on meds like steroids, she may not look like her normal self right now, which would be expected. But because they weren’t forthright about that, and are instead trying to hide her face, people are left to wonder.

    • GoodWitchGlenda says:

      The problem they have now is that they have broken the public’s trust so blatantly. Even if this is truly a picture of William and Kate this week, there will be suspicion on everything they do moving forward. They have nobody to blame but themselves.

      • WiththeAmerican says:

        Yes that’s exactly where I am with them now. What is the most audacious and outrageous thing they could pull next? That’s what they’re going to do.

  16. Grandma Susan says:

    The bricks seen through the car window and the bricks on the building are two *completely different* types, colors and shapes. I don’t believe it is Kate looking *away* from the camera. When did she *ever* do that? If there’s a camera on site Kate is guaranteed to be *looking right at it*. Also the sharp cheekbone doesn’t seem to match with Kate’s real face. Oh, also the U.S. mainstream media is picking this up and asking “What?”.

  17. Elvira says:

    The placement of the bow isn’t the same. In the car, that is beneath her ear. In the 2016 image it is way above her ear.

  18. Well at this point I wouldn’t put anything past these imbeciles. Why not trot out another old picture and photoshop it a bit. Or has put someone else in the car maybe Rose to help him out.

  19. CM says:

    This situation went to hell rather quickly!! So happy the Sussexes got out when they did bc you know the photoshop debacle would have been blamed on Meghan!! 🙄

  20. OriginalMich says:

    OMG. Some eagle-eyed Twitter researcher makes a compelling case that it is a photo of Kate from 2016. https://twitter.com/ashleythetexan/status/1767370500169146672

    If it is another Photoshop job, WTF are they doing? And, more importantly, why? Is William spiraling? Where is Kate?!?

    • Jay says:

      If you were Becky English and you ran this photo as an “exclusive” in return for (I assume) not publishing the Middleton pap shots of the car, at what point are you just fed up with covering for these fools? I know the DM doesn’t exactly have real journalist credentials, but nobody likes to look like a fool. Either English was set up by KP with a dodgy photo (that doesn’t even show Kate’s face) or she was in on it, and thinks so little of her readers that she didn’t think anyone would notice.

      • MaryContrary says:

        That is the biggest question in my mind. How did she get this photo??? Who signed off on this???

  21. Alice says:

    If you are going to fake photos be better at it. This is wild.

    • BeanieBean says:

      Right? To use one of her in a car–after making such a fuss about last week’s in a car–plus to say he’s dropping her off on the way to the CW service?? They really think their public is that stupid???

      • CC730 says:

        I think they really see us as stupid peasants but are panicking because while the people out there accepted some of their rhetorical for M and H for a time, they weren’t prepared for the tide to change. I love that for them. Karma.
        What’s very astonishing too: that Kate apparently doesn’t have any genuine photos with her kids….Does she ever see them?
        Again why not take a pap photo from say december? Because William isn’t there in it?
        Is it William that does the photoshoping?
        Popcorn time

  22. Sunday says:

    There isn’t a comms professional on Earth who would release another even semi-suspicious photo after an international k*ll order. There’s just no way. This is a circus, they’re intentionally driving speculation.

    The ‘why’ is up for debate, but that’s 100% what’s happening.

    • TigerMcQueen says:

      A comms professional, no. Billy Idle? Absolutely he would.

      • CC730 says:

        Most of those guys are there thanks to nepotism and are stupider than the average people. It’s possible.
        It might also be a way to deflect from a worse scandal but knowing that Uncle Andrew is still parading, it’s less likely than them being complete idiots.

  23. Elvira says:

    Today’s New York Times article on this is interesting….

  24. Jay says:

    Props to the commenters from yesterday that immediately thought it was an old photo! It’s… certainly a choice to double down on misleading/ mislabeled photos! It definitely lends credence to the as speculation that she is nowhere near Windsor.

    Every time I think “Oh, surely they wouldn’t be THAT stupid”, they prove me wrong!

  25. Elvira says:

    This image is not remotely fake or tampered with. I just explained how I know that and the comment was removed. I won’t be leaving comments here anymore. Best to all.

    • Esquire says:

      Don’t leave Elvira, your comments are refreshing. I was t/r/0/l/l/e/d a couple of weeks ago by someone who seems to have since disappeared. I had trouble getting a response through. But I decided to return regardless.

      • Esquire says:

        Having said that, one of my longer responses seems to have been pulled, not happy about that.

      • Elvira says:

        Thanks Esquire. I haven’t had that happen to me, but my comments explaining why this image wasn’t manipulated were removed. I will continue to read though.

      • Underhill says:

        Elvira: I respect your voice, and your experience

    • sparrow says:

      Don’t go, Elvira! I’ve been interested in what you’ve had to say; in fact, all the thoughts and opinions from photographers and agency workers have been fascinating and provided an element of reality amongst the to and fro of theories. My comments sometimes disappear. I’ve seen whole threads go when people point out a single comment for being excessively nasty or simply wrong, esp in today’s political climate. I think we’ve all been moderated at some point, or have read others saying they’ve had to cut a lot out of their post to meet the requirements of the site and are submitting an edited version. It must be a difficult task to moderate and keep up with all the comments at the moment.

      • Becks1 says:

        If you included links to other sites they may have deleted the comment right off the bat. Sometimes super long posts get deleted as well. And I think there are a few phrases that if a comment uses them, it gets automatically deleted.

        Usually removing comments is about keeping the conversation on track, outside links, not having multiple comments that say the same thing from one poster, and then again those “trigger phrases” – i’ll sometimes see comments disappear (from myself and others) and that’s best I can figure is happening.

      • sparrow says:

        Becks1. Yes, agree with the links. I think one or two of my comments never went ahead because of doing that. And also people on here are, mostly, generally on the same page, but with hugely different experiences to offer. There is sometimes the feeling of being jumped on, but I suspect that comes about because people are typing counter views or qualifications very quickly.

    • Looty says:

      Please stay for the sake of the community

    • Libra says:

      Same here. Comments not showing up but I figured I triggered it with a controversial word. Please stick around @Elvira, enjoy your posts.

    • sparrow says:

      Or just read and then come back? I didn’t post for YEARS. I read the site through some dark post natal times, simply because it was such fun. I started commenting during lockdown. There have been times I’ve left, because of working alongside!, and then come back. Sometimes I’ve been jumped on because I’m sometimes a small c conservative politically, and I’ve jumped on others, without really intending to. But this is a supportive place and some of the comments on questions I’ve asked, unrelated to the topic, have been really helpful in my general life.

    • Rnot says:

      I don’t blame you. I’ve noticed disappearing comments from multiple commenters recently and they didn’t contain links, swears, or personal attacks. It’s ironic considering the topic of discussion.

      • Esquire says:

        True; my comment was mild, no attacking others, links or anything that would cause it to be flagged. But, it was a bit long.

        I stated, inter alia, that from one human being to another, I wish Kate well. But I don’t feel sorry for her. That was the crux. She pursued this life with a passion and vigour rarely seen over nearly a decade. She knew what she was getting into, as did her mother. William never changed from the dating years, perhaps they thought he would. Being the heir gave him a good cover. I feel sorry for ordinary folk who struggle without privilege when illness strikes.

      • MelodyM says:

        I’ve had comments disappear, and Mary Pester has said more than once that particular comments she’s posted have disappeared. So please don’t feel that you’re being singled out, altho it can seem that way sometimes.

      • Esquire says:

        Thanks Melody, appreciate that.

    • Harper says:

      @Elvira it’s hit or miss sometimes what gets posted here and it’s frustrating to type out something you care about and come back to check it and what was there once is now gone. It happens not only to me, but to posts I want to go back and read again. I don’t know what the magic words are that trigger these mysterious disappearances, but I always assume MI5 is reading and that’s why. Just kidding. Well, maybe not.

      • Dandelion2 says:

        Elvira,
        Many moons ago, my comment outing Kate and Charles as the royal racists was removed. Very soon after, there was a post about it where we could comment that topic.
        The removal of your post might not be against your content/opinion/comment.

    • MaryContrary says:

      Love reading your commentary. I wonder thouugh-even if the pic is legit, certainly does not mean it’s current.

    • Libra says:

      You were right all along @Elvira. The photographer Jim Bennet swears it is a random undoctored photo shoot done yesterday.

      • Bravo says:

        So he only took this one photo? Usually you get at least two or three…
        Did he say where he took them?

      • WiththeAmerican says:

        Well, it can’t be random since the palace refuses to let them run non palace sanctioned paps.

        He was hired to take pictures of William, supposedly. We never get paps of William.

        So, obviously palace sanctioned.

      • MollyF says:

        Yet the photographer can’t swear on “Kate” being Kate, can he? Did he see her up close while out of the car? did he talk to her? So many question..

      • Agreatreckoning says:

        Jim Bennett can swear anything all day long-doesn’t make it true. He does have a relationship with the palaces. He definitely had one with QE2. Bennett isn’t a pap per se. He was a photographer in 2021 for a celebration of the Royal Australian Air Force with QE2. In addition to that, he was involved with some kind of thing with QE2 walking around one of the properties. Bennett has a longstanding relationship with the BRF.

        Not random. It’s not a photo from recent days.imo Looking at the pic-it looks like a roll of burlap in the back of Kate’s head and a shaded out something on the top of her head. I don’t believe it’s Rose riding in car with Will. Don’t believe Bennett’s comments about only doing adjustments with lighting either.

  26. Sakura says:

    One theory floating around that seems plausible to me is that Kate had cosmetic surgery and is, obviously, trying to hide it. Methinks Kate didn’t like it when those pics came out of her looking “old”. I’d totally buy she had work done. Also, didn’t that British reporter say he knew what was going on with Kate and that she wasn’t dying/deathly ill but that she’d be recovering for a while? That also sounds like it could be cosmetic surgery to me. Anyway, that’s just one theory out of many I could believe.

  27. Scooby Gang says:

    This is insanity!!

    All I see is an arrogant, petulant man-child desperately trying to prove that his wife is alive… or at the very least… conscious and coherent.

    And is anyone talking about the recent death (Kingston?) and W’s neck bruising that was seen immediately afterward?

    Whatever is happening, this has become incredibly creepy.

  28. Lau says:

    What the hell is happening in this family ?! Can’t they behave normally for five minutes ?! Also I’m pretty sure the thing with the wall is just that they changed some bricks through the years.

  29. Jais says:

    I’m confused how news outlets refuse to run one photo but then will run this one. Is it bc this one is not an official photo from KP but a “pap photo”?

  30. Bettyrose says:

    Where TF is Kate??

    • BlueNailsBetty says:

      I don’t know where she is but I am convinced the pap photo with her mom last week was a recent pic. That photo is telling us something is seriously wrong with Kate.

      I’m also convinced Kate is not able to consent to any of the f*ckery William and his team are doing/submitting to the media.

      • Harper says:

        She’s wherever the reflection in that car window is from last week’s pap pic. That feels like the only true information we’ve gotten since this joke of an incident started. I think she is in that Clinic les Alpes in Switzerland, due to the mountains reflected in the car door and the recent Byrony Gordon profile of her stay there that The Telegraph popped for at $40K a week.

        The clinic is run by a recovering Brit. It is so private you do not see any of the other patients. That sounds like the type of environment the Royals would insist on. They can’t risk Kate connecting with another vulnerable soul ala Elizabeth Taylor and Larry Fortensky or some random spilling that Kate has been found there.

      • MrsH says:

        Last weeks car photo had a car with FIVE wheels!

      • ABCD says:

        @Harper this is the first time I heard of the Switzerland rehab center theory and it makes so much sense! I now believe 100% that’s where she is and the Royal Family is just too embarrassed to admit it

      • Bettyrose says:

        Okay so let’s say she’s at an insanely posh rehab clinic, which is as plausible as any explanation. Why not just report that an exhausted mother of three is away at an overseas spa, have several school run photo shoots of the kids looking entirely unconcerned and get this friggin narrative under control? Rich women disappear for months and return with new faces. Story as old as recent times.

      • SamuelWhiskers says:

        Is there anything at all to suggest she’s in Switzerland other than one poster thinking the car bonnet reflection “looked like the Swiss alps” (which honestly doesn’t make a lot of sense, the mountains in the Swiss alps are identical to British mountain ranges, and the French alps, or lots of places; I’m saying that as someone who has been to both many dozens of times). And there’s nothing to suggest the reflection in the car was even a mountain at all, much less be able to confidently identify which specific country.

        The car was a right hand drive one which means the photo was either taken in Britain, or Carole (or someone else) drove her car all the way from Britain to Switzerland or wherever. It definitely definitely was not a car sold or operated in Europe because – it really is incredibly rare to see a right hand drive car in Switzerland. I’m saying that as a Brit who has been to Switzerland almost every year.

  31. Molly says:

    It’s not just that they are a much brighter shade (which is really the reverse of what it should be through a car) – it’s that they are literally going in the wrong direction! Look at the top of the 2 photos here: https://pagesix.com/2024/03/11/royal-family/kate-middleton-spotted-leaving-windsor-castle-with-prince-william-after-photoshop-fail/?utm_campaign=pagesix&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
    Above the car you can see that they are passing the corner of the building behind, and the bricks turn as they would to a downward direction for the perspective. But the ones in the car are a) huge, but moreover, b) parallel with the car. They also are completely different shapes (just within the car window space) with considerable mortar than anything outside the car. (Not just a few randoms different,)

    This is lunacy!

  32. Mslove says:

    Yes, I think the photo was manipulated. The Wails can never be trusted after this debacle. They think the taxpayers are as stupid as they are. The only thing that could save them is to tell the truth. Eat some humble pie. But then, who would believe them.

  33. Over it says:

    I was thinking that people have been over doing it with their conspiracy theories and finding things to pick apart in these pictures. Not like a lot is not shady , but after reading the tweet about the brick walls and zooming in on the pictures, you can’t deny it’s definitely not the same . Lies in top of lies on top of lies. kP should stop the train of lies before it derails any further because I can’t see how they will be able to dig themselves out of this pile of lies.

  34. Aud says:

    I wonder if Kate could be in some sort of rehab? Either ED or substance abuse?

  35. sevenblue says:

    I read that the red bricks outside the car belongs to a wall behind the ones visible through car windows. So, they are different walls. I don’t know the location of the photo, so can’t say it is wrong or right, but it seemed possible to me?

    • MB says:

      I was actually wondering about this. It looks like the wall we are seeing through the car windows could be a much closer wall, like a garden wall, that ends around where the roofline of the car is. And the wall that we see over the top of the car is actually a building that sits behind the garden wall. They are definitely two different walls (the biggest difference being in the thickness of the mortar between the bricks) but it could be that they are both real walls and we just aren’t seeing the top of the one in the foreground because it lines up with the car roof.

      I still think all of this is bizarre and a clownshow, and the Mothers Day photo is BANANAS. But I do think there’s a plausible explanation for the wall differences here. Is that Kate though…. Who knows?

    • k says:

      I came here to say the same. Not that I don’t think there are shenanigans happening. If this pap photo was release to reassure the public, Why oh WHY WOULD SHE BE TURNING AWAY FROM THE CAMERA?!

    • Rnot says:

      The bricks are almost too suspicious. It may be bait. Get everyone yelling that it’s another fake and then reveal the “truth” to distract and discredit.

    • Agreatreckoning says:

      According to Jim Bennett (photographer), the photo happened at No. 39 Datchet Street. Reminder: he has a relationship with the palaces and most likely had a photo from the past in his archives. Podrido Huevo, taking Kate to a private appointment on the way to the Commonwealth Service is LOL.

  36. Lenneke says:

    Maybe something is wrong with her face? Could that be the reason she doesn’t show herself?

    • DeltaJuliet says:

      But…..couldn’t they just photoshop her face to look “better”? With all the nonsense, it seems like taking a new authorized photo, and PSing it to make her skinnier, plumper, or not bruised would eliminate a lot of the gossip.

  37. Snuffles says:

    Here’s how I think this went down. We know KP likes to do photoshoots and bank them to release at a later date.

    They most likely took the original photo back in November 2023 when they filmed their visit to the Baby Bank and it was always scheduled to be released on Mother’s Day. But since Kate’s mystery surgery and the fact no one had seen her since Christmas, they knew the public were demanding a recent photo of Kate to see if she’s recovering well. And they desperately needed to tamp down on the wild conspiracy theories.

    In reality, she’s still looking pretty rough, so in desperation, they hastily photoshopped the old picture to make it look recent and lied about its origins.

    But the head scratcher for me is why did they send this out to official photo agencies with strict standards about manipulating photos? You would think their comms team would know this photoshopped photo wouldn’t be acceptable. They could have just put it out on their social media and could have played it off as Kate was just doing some amateur photoshopping. But them sending this sloppy job to respectable photo agencies screams desperation.

    Once the photo got killed, they desperately scrambled again with more lies and another sloppily done photoshop job. Again, throwing gasoline on the conspiracy theory fires.

    I don’t know what’s really going on with Kate. I truly hope she’s alive and recovering. And if William was responsible for what happened to her, I hope she gets away from him.

  38. Cerys says:

    Kate can always look towards a camera easily when she is out and about. The fact that this person is looking away from the camera suggests to me that if it is a real person in the car then it’s not her.

  39. LizzieB says:

    I’m pretty sure the lighter bricks are a brick wall and the deeper, more orange bricks are buildings behind the wall. It’s entirely possible they have done other hinky things to the photo or got a double etc, but I don’t think the bricks are the smoking gun people think they are!

  40. ActualLawyer says:

    The photo in the DM is credited to photographer Bruce Bennett. He was in NY and NJ on Saturday to photograph hockey per his instagram. Could he be in the UK by Monday? Of course. But why is he going from very well done NHL photography (as the Director of Photography for Getty Hockey) to Royal pap photos in less than 48 hours? How did he know to be there to take this picture on the way to the Commonwealth Service? Has any media organization touched base with him to ask? https://www.instagram.com/bruce_bennett/?hl=en

    • Becks1 says:

      If the photographer was someone with those kinds of credentials, then I can think we can assume its not photoshopped and that there was a woman in the car with William (even if not Kate.)

      but that still leaves those other questions you bring up – why was he there, who called him, he seems like a true professional, not someone trying to make a living with a random pap picture of William and Kate, etc.

      so the picture may be real but was obviously still totally staged.

      • TigerMcQueen says:

        Looking at his credentials, I have a hard time believing that the hockey photographer Bruce Bennet is the same Bruce Bennet that took the car photo. Like, WHY would he do it?

        From his bio: “In 2004 Getty Images acquired his company along with their two million hockey images. He currently directs the company’s global coverage of ice hockey, works as the liaison between Getty Images and the sport’s governing bodies, and personally shoots between 125 and 150 events each year. He also acts as the bridge between Getty Images content and sales departments to ensure that our clients are provided with unparalleled hockey content.”

        Make it make sense. Is there another BB, or did someone pull his name out of thin air?

      • Becks1 says:

        @TigerMcQueen no clue! it seems like it would be super weird for it to be the same one.

        But I also feel like we’re in the upside down at this point. I mean I didn’t expect KP to go on a fake frankenstein photoshopping spree this week either lol.

      • TigerMcQueen says:

        The pic appears to have been taken by a Jim Bennet , not Bruce Bennet.

      • LynnInTX says:

        @TigerMcQueen Daily Fail credits it to Bruce Bennet. So who actually took the picture?

    • MaryContrary says:

      That’s wild. What the heck?!

    • Agreatreckoning says:

      The photo was taken by Jim Bennett, not Bruce Bennett. The BM are either extraordinarily stupid/lazy (hmmmmm) or they want people to believe it was an American photographer that took the photo.lol It looks like the surname of Bennett is a dangle in the gongshow of BM/BRF. They all belong in the sin-bin.

  41. Denver D says:

    “No sh*t,” – Everyone.

  42. Renee' says:

    Since when does Wills need to “drop her off at her appointment” on the way to a Royal engagement? No other car available for her?
    What “personal appointment” requires an “up do” and a hat? Bitch please…..

  43. Brit says:

    Don’t know if this helps (and I have no idea if the photo is real or fake or if it is Kate in the car)
    but yesterday I read in the Telegraph that photographers ‘happened to be on Datchet High Street’ which is where they got the photo (MSN link to Telegraph article below)

    So when I read about the brickwork I used Street View to look at Datchet High Street and the only possible place I’ve found where the pic might have genuinely been taken is opposite a building that’s on the corner of Datchet High Street and Windsor Road. There’s a big red brick house on that corner with small bricks similar to those above the car. The house has a boundary wall, maybe four or five feet high, that was built with a different sort of bricks which are similar to the bricks seen through the car window. So it is possible that might be why the bricks are different. However, there is something in the car photo, on the wall above the car, that isn’t on street view so I could be wrong and this might not be the place.

    What3words address is
    field.played.book

    Windsor Road runs along the river, so the cars could have come that way from Windsor castle/Great Park to cut through Datchet to get to M4 to head to London.

    MSN link to Telegraph article here https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/an-extraordinary-36-hours-princess-of-wales-seen-after-wild-speculation/ar-BB1jIID1

    • TigerMcQueen says:

      Good catch! I looked at that location on street view, and I’m 99% sure that’s where it was taken. There’s a garden wall and house behind it, and the photo with the top bricks going at a different angle than the car is at the house’s corner. The drain pipes along the house wall match both on street view and in the photo.

    • Skyblacker says:

      If you pulled up a Google Street View of my childhood home today, you’d see a car last parked there in 2013. So don’t depend on it for minor details, nor even construction from the last few years.

  44. mary Pester says:

    Go to the circus, if the crowd are restless, they send in the clowns.
    Well the circus came to town at KP and the sent on the clowns. Yes, take to the ring (that was missing from her finger) William and Kate, in all my years I have never seen such a complete and utter balls up. It’s even worse than tampon gate and the texan toe suck!
    ANOTHER photo shopped picture?? Because I believe it is. We all know keen has never met a camera she doesn’t love, and purleeze, WHEN on gods green earth, would a person who’s living s depends on his reputation as a professional photographer allow this shot to be issued. I don’t for one minute believe keen is in that car.

    • Saucy&Sassy says:

      Mary Pester, people have said they believe it is the picture for the Christmas walk. They just double down, don’t they?

  45. Renee' says:

    To me, the bigger question is was the photo with her mother last week legit or not? The British press wouldn’t print it BUT was willing to print this fake family photo on Sunday. Meaning….if they couldn’t tell the difference, why not go ahead & print the photo with her mother?

    Because even they knew the family photo was fake but thought no one else would figure it out. So now they try to act outraged & surprised.

    Bottom line: why not print the photo from the car with her mother now? Because KP told them not to so they didn’t. They are complicit and their fake surprise and outrage kills me.

  46. Nic919 says:

    Whether or not the photo is really kate or not, it is a big FU to the public because Kate / the woman, looking away at a brick wall being the only snap captured is just not plausible. They travel with police cars and motorcycles ahead of their vehicle so the paps would figure out it is probably a royal early on.

    And of course William is clearly seen but not Kate? Sure Jan.

  47. Sugary says:

    This is really getting weird. I do believe Kate’s face was superimposed on the Mother’s Day photo after reading the Telegraph article. I DO think the Windsor photo is real and it’s Kate. I think she had some work done but is also dealing with some other issues that require time away from the public eye. We’ve know for a while, through slow trickles, that the marriage is in bad shape. Remember all the “she gives as good as she gets” articles? I hope they can find some form of peace in the difficult bubble they’re in, I don’t envy them.

  48. B says:

    At this point people need to ask why William’s staff can’t produce a real time pic of Kate.

  49. Lulu says:

    I think Kate has her face turned because she is no longer cooperating after she was humiliated by William. She has to own the amateurish photoshopping forever. She’s probably going to lose her ‘keen photographer’ tag and hand family photos to professionals.

  50. Libra says:

    I stated above to @Elvira that the photographer Jim Bennett swears this is an undoctored photo from yesterday. He was hired to get photos of Prince William going to the ceremony. He stands b it’s authenticity

  51. Bad Janet says:

    They’re done. No one is ever going to trust anything they say or do until she shows up in person again, and even then, people will wonder if it’s actually a Weekend At Bernie’s scenario.

    They earned it with all this clowning

  52. Interested Gawker says:

    Well, that photographer can swear upon a stack of bibles but the BRF has destroyed trust.

    “Late on Monday 11 March, another photo appeared. Prince William, accompanied by a cloudy grey smudge in the back of an official car. The smudge was supposed to be his wife. In a strange way it felt like we were seeing Catherine properly for the first time.”

    That’s from New Statesman. Wired has also alluded to the car photo being suspicious too in their recent article. William has cooked the palace’s goose. A Murdoch paper in the States quoted the photographer saying,

    “We don’t change our photos in Photoshop other than adjusting the light levels if necessary”

    That means he did not change the picture that doesn’t mean the one that ran in DM wasn’t tampered with by the palace afterwards, as the Mothering Sunday photo attests and, quite frankly, the Murdoch arm of William’s media assistance has been thick in the deception around this Kate situation from the first. They are also pushing against it being the Vogue picture in the image that got killed, as TMZ did too, saying they are trying to”quash online conspiracy theories” Oh? Weren’t they the ones flooding social media with bot posts about saintly Kate and virtuous William when her admission to the London Clinic was announced?

  53. Saucy&Sassy says:

    LondonGal, now that’s quite interesting.

  54. Sasha says:

    Why can we see her hand and William’s phone in some pictures but not in others? Are there multiple versions of this picture running around? I thought it was just one….

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13183233/Kate-leaving-Windsor-Castle-Prince-William-Westminster-Abbey.html

  55. Mrs.Krabapple says:

    I know I’m late to this thread, and now there are too many posts to read through so I apologize if someone already mentioned this — but see that line running down from the bottom of Kate’s ear? That’s the kind of crease you get when you turn your head to the RIGHT. So that photo was probably take from behind Kate and her face was turned slightly to the right. You do NOT get that crease if you turn your head to the left, as Kate is supposedly doing in the car. You don’t need to be a professional photographer to know that (try it in front of a mirror).

  56. Agreatreckoning says:

    Oh my @TRex! That brought joy and LOLs. DH was only mildly interested in the BRF due to QE2’s love of horse racing. He was actually within a 10 foot reach of her at Arlington Park many years ago for the Arlington Million. So, today, I showed him the Kate/kids pic and asked, “What do you see wrong with this photo?”. He said that it looked liked the Mom’s head was plopped into the photo along with, why are you asking me?lol

    Then I showed him the Instagram post you shared @TRex, which he too was delighted with. (we love cats) DH is like, they should have gone with that photo, it looks more natural. Explained it was photoshopped. He said it still looks more natural than that other photo. The paws appear to be in the right place. Dead.

    duke_therapy_cat has skills. LOVE, LOVE.

  57. phlyfiremama says:

    Aww hell, it’s ON!!! #TheDailyShow

  58. Franster says:

    The photographer who’s quoted in the many articles defending the picture – bricks not matching etc- is Jim Bennet, but the photo is also credited to Kelvin Bruce. Bruce is predominantly a royal sanctioned photographer- here’s his Twitter https://twitter.com/kelvinfbruce?lang=en. The photos he takes are either obviously posed or designed to make the Royals look like a (somewhat) normal family. Jim Bennet is a straightforward pap guy with a side line in passport photos (!) It’s possible that the family hired Kelvin Bruce take the shot and Jim Bennet manipulate it and take the credit/heat for it if the manipulation was discovered.

  59. Polus says:

    Has anyone mentioned that this is the beginning of divorce? Even if this side picture is not altered, the body language of her being turned away made me wonder that the plot has thickened. I found the stay at hospital strange and now the photo of her turned could spell more trouble. Let us see how the Middleton clan tries to help.