A global picture agency and a news agency have flagged a second royal photo as being digitally manipulated.

The second photo was taken by Princess of Wales Catherine Middleton in August 2022, and published in April 2023.

This development comes after Middleton issued an apology earlier this month for editing a photograph of her and her children, Prince George, 10; Princess Charlotte, 8; and Prince Louis, 5.

Digitally altered in eight places

Both Reuters and Getty Images have since published editorial advisories on a royal photograph of Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral sitting on a couch with ten of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

The photograph was released by Buckingham Palace and published in April 2023 to commemorate the Queen on what would have been her birthday.

It was taken by Middleton, Kensington Palace said at the time of its release.

Today would have been Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s 97th birthday.

This photograph - showing her with some of her grandchildren and great grandchildren - was taken at Balmoral last summer.

📸 The Princess pic.twitter.com/1FOU4Ne5DX

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) April 21, 2023

And according to both organisations, it has marks of digital manipulation.

A spokesperson for Getty Images told The Guardian: “Getty Images has reviewed the image in question and placed an editor’s note on it, stating that the image has been digitally enhanced at source.”

Reuters said, "the examination of the photograph by Reuters photo editors has found that there were eight places where the picture had been clearly altered by digital cloning. Reuters could not immediately establish why the alterations were made."

Some of the edits include a vertical line out of place on the Queen's tartan skirt and dark shadows behind Prince Louis’ ear and Prince George’s shirt collar.

Second British royal photograph involving Kate was digitally altered https://t.co/kSu6ggwxue pic.twitter.com/I0Pc19ghbR

— Reuters World (@ReutersWorld) March 20, 2024

Kensington Palace declined to comment, reported the New York Times.

This is the second royal photograph deemed to have been edited prior to release.

Controversial royal commentator Piers Morgan wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter):

"The Royals should stop taking their own photos for official release. They’ve shown they can’t be trusted not to manipulate them."

First photo: "Experiment with editing"

A "kill notice" for a photograph shared by Kensington Palace to celebrate Mother's Day on Mar. 10 was issued by four major news agencies after it was deemed to have been "manipulated".

The photograph of Middleton laughing with her children was taken by her husband Prince William.

The Associated Press (AP), Reuters, Agence France-Presse (AFP), and Getty Images asked their clients to remove the image from all platforms.

In a report at the time, Reuters said it "could not immediately establish how, why or by whom the alteration had been made".

Middleton issued an apology on Mar. 11 via social media for "experiment[ing] with editing".

Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day. C

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) March 11, 2024

According to Kensington Palace, Middleton is currently recovering from planned abdominal surgery.

She will resume her public duties likely only after Easter (Mar. 31).

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Top image from @princeandprincessofwales/Instagram