KUALA LUMPUR: After being out of the public eye since an abdominal surgery in January, the last thing on Catherine's mind was perhaps to be the subject of further scrutiny and trigger a slew of conspiracy theories. In what was supposed to be an endearing Mother's Day Instagram photo post and update on her health, the Princess of Wales only ended up digging herself a hole when the internet discerned that some things were just a little off. And the internet was right.
While the princess soon apologised for having caused confusion over what she alluded was a photograph she edited herself, the fact that she is widely known for dabbling in photography and is the UK's official patron of the Royal Photographic Society since 2019, doesn't help her case much at all. Nothing, it seems, can send netizens into a frenzy quite like a royal fiasco– like that of a doctored image of a popular princess.
In fact, ever since the first one blew up, another image has been called into question. People are now looking at another officially released photograph that shows the late Queen Elizabeth II with her grandchildren and great grandchildren at Balmoral Castle (the royal family's residence in Scotland). It was snapped in August 2022, just weeks before the Queen's death by none other than Catherine.
Global picture agency, Getty Images, has now said the photograph was "digitally enhanced at source", as reported by the UK's The Telegraph.
Undeniably, there is today a lot more expectation on royalties to make an appearance, to show face. Perhaps they too are getting with the times, with the advent of multiple social media platforms. Perhaps too, they genuinely want to be more relatable to the public and have less regard for protocol. Both could even be true. But evidently, as in the case of the princess, she found it necessary not only to address the issue, but to admit that she "occasionally experiments with editing."
It's clear she was under pressure from the barrage of backlash that came. But it does leave the whole incident quite unsettling and begs the question: how much else is doctored? When it comes to royal and government institutions, some level of accountability must be held. These are afterall officially documented images that would shape the course of history.
Weighing in on the matter, Malaysia Cyber Consumer Association (MCCA) president Siraj Jalil said the Princess Catherine photo debacle has prompted more push for laws and regulations
surrounding the use of artificial intelligence (AI) which without it, could erode public trust in the internet.
"From MCCA's perspective, we are more concerned about the consumer. We don't want people in the future to say that the internet is not reliable anymore.
"If you talk about the age of (internet) consumers around the age of 30 to 40 years, where we are the generation that constructively receive or submit assignments on the internet, we are now starting to worry what it would look like for our children's generation because they're born in this totally digitalised world that we know is heading towards destruction," he said, adding that in Europe, people are already fully aware of it, which is why they are trying to regulate the law.
Catherine's altered photograph, Siraj said, is just one example of why trust is declining. But to see regulations be enforced, it should be done en bloc as a region and not regulated just by one country to ensure comprehensive protection for all.
"For example, like Malaysia, we should talk (about AI regulation) as a part of the region, Asean. Because most of AI is not developed by countries in Asean. Most of AI, the high-tech industry, is US, China or Russian based.
"So if Malaysia says we regulate everything here on AI use and most likely the technology was not created in our country, then how are we going to take action against them?" he said.
As a general rule, Siraj advised that while some alterations may go undetected, there are apps available to help distinguish between a real photographic image from an entirely fabricated one.
"If you put it through an AI image scanner, the Kate Middleton photograph is about 50 per cent human generated. So it is a real camera generated image.
"However, if it was entirely fake, it would show up as a 50 per cent AI generated image instead," he said.
Meanwhile, head artist at the New Straits Times, Noor Aziah Hamzah, said that it doesn't take a professional to tell if an image was doctored, as long as you have enough prior references to compare the image against.
"You must understand that these people who religiously follow famous people like the royal family and celebrities have spent years looking at their photographs, often multiple angles and shots of each appearance.
"They would be able to catch even the smallest details like if there was a pimple in an area of the face that day. They can pick out what clothes were worn and if the same clothes were worn in a later photograph that would have been from an earlier picture or event.
"So, as long as you have access to all this information, almost anyone can spot if any post editing was done."
We are of course talking about a royal institution here, and the world's most recognisable at that. It is to a large extent, a matter of public concern and one would have to be truly naive not to at least question the motive behind the "personal edits" when quite simply, the British royal family would be expected to have access to better standards of photography.
The photo in question taken by Prince William, according to a statement from Kensington Palace, was posted on the official Instagram account for the Prince and Princess of Wales on Sunday, March 10, on Mother's Day (for the UK). In the photo, the former Kate Middleton sat down on a chair as she posed with her three children: Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5.
It came with a caption that read: "Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months. Wishing everyone a Happy Mother's Day."
She then signed off with "C."
In a turn of events, major news agencies The Associated Press and Reuters, issued a kill notice on the official photo released by Kensington Palace, claiming the image was "manipulated."
The following day, an apology was issued via the Princess of Wales' social media for her alleged Photoshop work.