Prince William came face to face on Thursday with a European royal who publicly poked fun at Princess Kate’s Photoshop scandal that erupted in the weeks before her cancer announcement.William attended the international commemorative ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings at Omaha Beach in France on Thursday. The prince joined world leaders including President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron. Also in attendance were King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands.Video footage from the event showed the prince speaking with the king and queen, who paid a state visit to Britain in 2018.The king made world headlines in March when he was caught on camera joking with a young fan that his family portraits weren’t “Photoshopped” as an image-manipulation scandal engulfed Kate and Kensington Palace in Britain.The scandal sparked when the palace released a portrait of Kate and her three children taken by William to mark Mother’s Day, celebrated in Britain on March 10.The photo was significant as it was the first official image of Kate released since Christmas Day in 2023. The princess stepped out of the public eye in January to undergo “planned abdominal surgery.”In Kate’s extended absence from public life and an information vacuum formed by the palace’s reluctance to comment on the princess’ private health matters, conspiracy theories and speculation about her condition, whereabouts and marriage became widespread.When the Mother’s Day photo was released, social-media users quickly identified traces of editing throughout the frame, including visible seams cutting through elements of the image. This skyrocketed speculation and, in the hours after its release, picture agencies issued “kill” notices to news outlets recalling the image over concerns it violated image-manipulation guidelines.On March 11, Kate issued a personal apology via social media. “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” she said. “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.”This did little to assuage social-media discourse surrounding the royal and her whereabouts, with “#whereskate” widely trending in the days afterward and celebrities including actress Blake Lively joking about the scandal to their followers.On March 14, four days into the image-manipulation storm directed at Kate, the King of the Netherlands drew media attention for his joke about Photoshopped pictures.During a visit to the Dutch city of Zutphen, the king was greeted by a group of schoolchildren, one of whom was overheard telling him: “I have seen a picture of you and your whole family!”Video footage shows Willem-Alexander responding in Dutch: “Really? That was not Photoshopped apparently!” This drew laughter from the children’s nearby parents.Following this, attention on Kate continued to increase until, on March 22, she released a video statement filmed in the grounds of Windsor Castle, Berkshire. She said that her continued absence was in part due to receiving a cancer diagnosis detected in tests taken after her surgery.Kate added that it had taken time for herself and William to break the news to their three children before making any public announcement. She also said that, as a family, they needed time, space and privacy while she underwent a course of preventive chemotherapy.In the wake of this announcement, several celebrities expressed regret at joking about the royal in the period between the Photoshop issue and cancer revelation, including Lively and Andy Cohen.Kate did not accompany William to the D-Day commemoration events in France as she continues this period of treatment and recovery. No timeline for her return to public duties has been given, though Kensington Palace confirmed in May that the royal wouldn’t go back to work until cleared to do so by her medical team.Speaking to a veteran at a D-Day event in England on June 5, William provided a brief update on his wife’s condition, saying that she is “getting better.”James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek’s royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek’s The Royals Facebook page.Do you have a question about Charles and Camilla, William and Princess Kate, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you.
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