Every photographer does manipulate pictures. I mean,
I wrote a biography of Cecil Beaton and I can
assure you that a lot of the photographs he took
of the Royal Family were seriously touched up.
The Queen Mother once actually sent a photograph back and
said Queen Elizabeth feels she hasn't been entirely untouched by
the passing of the years.
Could Mr. Beaton possibly remove some of the retouching?
So that is just one point.
But of course the overall point why this is difficult
is that this photograph is meant to reassure us that
the Princess of Wales is well and happy and it's
a lovely picture. If it has been manipulated then it
does ask the question,
you know, what else? What,
What, when was it taken?
And people have said, oh,
you know, the trees are too in bloomers in the
old photograph.
Have they sort of hooked it all up?
And in which case, that's really quite serious and not
not attractive at all.
Do you think heads could roll over this?
I mean, if I was the Princess of Wales,
a horrible week for her.
Last week, not only was her uncle,
you know, embarrassing her going into Big Brother,
we had all of that drama,
lots of speculation about her own condition,
paparazzi photograph. Here we are releasing this picture,
hoping to quash everything. And now,
I don't know about you,
but social media has gone absolutely crazy.
People messaging me going, are they splitting up?
Where's her wedding ring? Was she even in that photograph?
And it's just created a whole new hornet's nest for
her.
Well, hopefully not. Hopefully she's just recovering quietly at home.
But I do take the point.
But can I just make another point,
which you may not like,
is that we're all very happy apparently to think this
one is somehow tricking us.
But what about that photograph of Prince Andrew with Virginia
Roberts?
Nobody seems to consider that that also might have been
manipulated.
I mean, I know people who've gone through that photograph
with a tooth comb and so the hand is in
the wrong position,
etcetera, etcetera. But I mean I I just think that,
but it's a pity because we've lost confidence in the
picture.
That's the overall thing, that's that's the real point about
that photograph.
It was as you say,
meant to reassure us and unfortunately
because of, I don't know,
social media, because of people were looking at Princess Charlotte's
sleeve,
there have been doubts raised and we're now
all worried about it. But
I I mean, a lot of this is is over
my head until I start looking
more deeply. And then there is a basic thing,
Isabel, which
you were very, very aware of.
I wouldn't even have noticed this.
But the Princess of Wales is not wearing a wedding
ring in this,
in this picture. And that
is a pretty shocking. Well,
yeah, well Prince of Wales pulled out at short notice
from from a service last week in memory of his
godfather.
People are now asking are there problems with the marriage?
I mean if this was an oversight,
that is absolutely, as far as I'm concerned,
a sackable offence. But is there something else to be
concerned about.
And that's the problem I think in all of this
isn't it Hugo that it's prompted more worrying concern
about The
Wanted to call them the Wales is there
then it's actually helped to to solve.
But I hope not I don't think it's necessary for
somebody to wear
a ring when they're in their own garden.
I mean I'm sure she will be wearing her wedding
ring next time she comes out in public and probably
the engagement ring as well.
I mean there could be many reasons why she wasn't
wearing a ring
you know hand could be slightly
whatever. But I agree, it's the optics,
isn't it? That's the problem,
the optics and and the world in which we now
live in where everybody is very hostile and wants to
pick faults with everything and and on this occasion they've
found things that they can pounce on.
And so it's been counterproductive because the photograph,
which as I say was meant to reassure us,
has done completely the opposite.
But I don't think there's anything wrong with that marriage
and
we don't know why Prince William didn't go to King
Constantine's service. But the chances are that something happened at
home that he needed to deal with
made with his wife. Simple as that.