Opinion: Kate's photo controversy highlights problem at the heart of the monarchy

OPINION -- Nobody was expecting to see the Princess of Wales on Mother's Day but there she was, smiling happily with her three children in a photo shared on the Prince and Princess of Wales' official social media accounts.

I didn't know anything was amiss with the photo and wouldn't have, had it not been for sleuths around the world quickly identifying as many as 10 alterations that had been made to it.

These included a missing portion of the cuff on Princess Charlotte's jumper, blurring on Kate's hair and right hand, and the background behind Louis showing inconsistencies.

The timing of the controversy couldn't have been worse for the royal family, who were already badly handling unprecedented events.

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Advertising expert Dee Madigan suggested Kate, who is recovering from abdominal surgery, may simply have been bored and got a little carried away with the editing tools.

Regardless of the reasons behind the editing, as she has since confessed to, the outcome is the public trusts the royal family even less than they already did, as ITV's Chris Ship highlighted this morning on Today.

It was quite a jolt when, in January, royal followers were told the princess would undergo "planned abdominal surgery," the nature of which is still being kept a secret.

That same week, we were informed Charles would undergo a procedure to correct an enlarged prostate, with the monarch's choice to share details of his condition highlighting Kate's silence.

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Then came his cancer diagnosis. Charles chose to keep those details private, after sharing his prostate condition, which he said he had done to highlight what is a common condition in men over 50.

His choice to disclose this resulted in a surge in bookings for prostate checks in the UK and around the world.

So why all the secrecy?

Regardless of their reasons, one can't help but feel let down by the monarchy, which largely exists these days to carry out acts of service to the Commonwealth, many of these on behalf of charities and causes.

We have grown used to the royals using their statuses to carry out this important work. In turn, they continue to live privileged lives funded partially by taxpayers.

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British royals gather for the 2024 Commonwealth Day Service

Kate and Charles' choices to keep details of their health struggles silent has led to wild speculation and conspiracy theories, which could easily have been avoided.

Add to that the unease and damaged trust resulting from Kate's edited photo and the royal's unwillingness to share the original version.

One can't help but cast their mind back to when William and Kate married in 2011 and the fresh energy and hope they injected into the monarchy.

Kate famously did her own makeup for her nuptials and, as they welcomed their children, they released photos taken by family members including Kate's father Michael Middleton and Kate herself.

This latest photo released for Mother's Day in the UK was taken by Prince William, the palace said.

When the edits were identified, the royals chose not to respond for 12 hours until Kate issued an apology for the "confusion" the photo had caused.

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Following requests to see the original photo in an attempt to restore trust, the public is once again being met with silence.

This controversy seems even more jarring following the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's disclosures about royal life in media interviews, a Netflix special and Harry's memoir Spare, achieving a level of authenticity never before seen from British royals.

What William and Kate, King Charles and the monarchy in general has lost this year is exactly that.

It will take a complete shift to correct the damage that has been done, although it's hard to think of what moves they could make that would fix this state of affairs.

Are Kate and Charles ever planning on sharing details of their health struggles or are we to be kept in the dark forever? And why?

If they do eventually choose to share their diagnoses, won't the belatedness of these details leave those who have and are suffering from the same conditions feeling frustrated and let down?

More generally, it all seems to be a missed opportunity for the royals to truly connect to their followers in an authentic way.

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Nobody is expecting Kate to post Instagram stories throughout her treatment or to see photos of Charles in the hospital.

We just want and deserve, I feel, to be kept in the loop.

We want to see the monarchy evolve in this way, to further warrant their existence in a time when it is becoming more difficult to accept a ruling class that came to their lives of privilege by chance of birth.

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All the defining photos of the British royal family in 2024

With this privilege comes responsibility to the public that it serves, through service and sacrifice and by highlighting important causes, such as the very health conditions Kate and Charles are currently suffering from.

Harry and Meghan, unable to achieve this evolution for themselves from within the fold of the monarchy, felt they had no choice but to leave to try to achieve this outcome.

Their attempts at becoming the new modern royals have seemed clumsy at times, but they have tried and are still trying.

Nothing short of sharing Kate and Charles' diagnoses and posting the original Mother's Day photo can fix this. And even then, this will need to be followed by consistent changes that build back the trust that has been compromised.