Agence France-Presse says Kensington Palace is no longer reliable

The Prince and Princess of Wales/Instagram

One of the world's largest news agencies has claimed that Kensington Palace is no longer a “reliable source” following the uproar over Kate Middleton's doctored Mother's Day photo.

Phil Chetwynd, AFP's global news director, told BBC Radio 4: View media The agency has reviewed its relationship with the Prince and Princess of Wales and will carefully examine future photos of the royal family.

Such a statement would have been unthinkable a few days ago, but Chetwynd said the photo raised “big issues” for AFP. He acknowledged that the agency should never have checked its use because it “violates our guidelines.”

Middleton apologized for the “confusion” over the photo, which she attributed to an “editing experience.” Kensington Palace did not comment further, and refused to publish the original photo, which was allegedly taken by Prince William this year.

The image was primarily shared for Mother's Day in the UK, but it is widely accepted that the image served the dual purpose of addressing wild social media speculation about Middleton's health and whereabouts following her abdominal surgery in January.

Asked before View media If broadcaster Ross Atkins considered Kensington Palace a reliable source, Chetwynd replied: “No, not at all. As with anything, when a source lets you down, the bar is raised… We've sent notes out to all of our teams right now to be absolutely extra vigilant about the content that comes across our desk — even from what we call 'reliable' sources.”

Chetwynd revealed that major news agencies, including the Associated Press and Reuters, spoke out before issuing “kill” notices for the image on Sunday. He said Kensington Palace was asked if it would provide the original, but agencies did not receive a response and the image was withdrawn.

Chetwynd said it was unusual for media agencies to demand that images be withdrawn from circulation. “To kill something based on manipulation [is rare. We do it] Once a year maybe, hopefully less. He explained that the previous killings we had been subjected to were from the North Korean News Agency or the Iranian News Agency.

“The only thing that's really important is that you can't distort reality in front of the public,” Chetwynd added. “There is the issue of trust. The big issue here is the issue of trust, the lack of trust and the general public's declining trust in institutions in general and in the media. So it is very important that the image is represented as The wide range of reality in which they appear.