Summary of complaint
We received complaints from people who felt our reporting of the withdrawal of the photo of the Princess of Wales and her children, released on Mother’s Day was excessive and sensationalist.
Our response
The photo released by Kensington Palace of the Princess of Wales and her children to mark Mother’s Day generated global interest, being the first official photo of the princess since her surgery in January. The subsequent decision by leading international news agencies to take the unusual step of withdrawing this picture resulted in this interest being heightened. Our coverage examined why this had caused so much interest and looked at considerations raised over the Royal Family’s communication strategy and public trust in information given by the Palace.
We heard a nuanced and broad range of perspectives, including from those who were sympathetic to the princess, and those who felt this wasn’t an issue, given it isn’t unusual for people to edit their family photos before sharing them. Once the princess had issued her own statement on the matter, this was featured throughout our reporting.
A significant focus of our analysis was the growing scrutiny there has been in recent years over the use of AI in manipulating photos.Β Β We looked at the wider issue of whether people can trust the images they see, and how they can tell if these have been altered.Β We explained the discrepancies in the photo which had caused concerns, making clear that there was no evidence to suggest AI had been used.
We always give careful consideration to the editorial decisions we make. We have a responsibility to report on stories that are of interest to our audience, and know from our viewing figures that this was the story of most interest on that day. However, we appreciate this doesn’t mean that everyone would have agreed with the approach we took. You may be interested to know that our coverage of this story was discussed on last week’s edition of Newswatch: