Down the Rabbit Hole with Kate Middleton

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Photo by Birmingham Museums Trust on Unsplash

I have ten days to finish a 50-page supply chain report for a client when news breaks that Kate Middleton has doctored a family photo.

I…

a. Buckle down. Who’s Kate Middleton to me?

b. Quickly glance at the BBC story and return to work.

c. You guessed it.

I learn that on March 10 (UK Mother’s Day) Kensington Palace releases a photo of Kate, surrounded by her kids. That same night, major news outlets, like AP and Reuters, pull the image, saying it fails to meet photo standards because it was manipulated. The next day, Kate issues an apology — blaming her own amateurish foray into digital editing.

Before seeing the image, I assume she must have altered it to make herself look better. But that’s not what the fuss is about.

The photo manipulations are mostly about the kids. Princess Charlotte’s unnaturally feathery hair and a clumsily edited cardigan sleeve, and Prince Louis’ bizarrely blunted fingers.

There are problems with Kate too. Like what’s up with her zipper? And why no wedding ring?

The conspiracy is that maybe Kate is so ill — she’s been out of public view following abdominal surgery — that the image is a collage using an old…