Was This Photoshopped Too? 20 Then-And-Now Photos Of Royal Life
When Kensington Palace released a picture of Catherine, Princess of Wales and her kids to mark Mother's Day it must have known it would generate plenty of interest — just not this much! Yes, it was the public's first sight of Kate since her recent surgery, but that's not what provoked the ensuing media storm. The image had clearly been digitally altered, and not particularly subtly, either. Once that fact had been spotted, a retraction and apology swiftly followed. But has Pandora's Box been opened? Have other officially sanctioned images of the royals been tweaked before being distributed to the wider world and presented as the unvarnished truth? If yes, how many, by how much, and with what intention? The British royal family is steeped in protocol and tradition, but those traditions have evolved quite a lot over the years. Slowly rules have relaxed, laws have been rewritten, and things that would have had a person thrown in jail a few centuries ago now barely raise an eyebrow. These eye-opening photos neatly illustrate just how much life as a member of one of the world's most famous families has changed. What you might be wondering now is, in the age of Photoshop and other readily available image-editing software, to what extent can we trust some of the more recent pictures?
1. Bare legs were strictly forbidden
There was a time when you’d never, ever catch a royal lady with bare legs. Sure, they may look bare-legged in some photographs, but that’s because they have nude-colored pantythose on. And that pantyhose is a huge deal in royal circles, believe it or not. Allegedly one of the big fallings-out between Catherine, Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Sussex —less formally, Kate and Meghan — was over whether Princess Charlotte should have to wear a pair at Meghan’s wedding.
The prim and proper protocol is relaxed
But this piece of royal protocol has become more relaxed over the past few years. Meghan caused a stir when she went sans pantyhose in her engagement pictures, but she continued to do it even when she was a fully fledged royal. And more curiously, given her reported stance on the issue, Kate is thought to have gone bare-legged a few times in public too.
2. Queen Elizabeth's parenting style was icy
Allegedly, Queen Elizabeth II wasn’t a very demonstrative mother, and she and Prince Philip left their young children with nannies for long periods while they worked. Elizabeth cared for her kids of course, but her duties as ruler of the country came first, and that was simply what royal parenting was like — until someone came along to change all that.
Royal parents became more hands-on
Princess Diana is credited with changing the game when it came to raising royals. She devoted endless time and energy to her sons, making sure they always came first in her schedule, or came with her when she toured. And she hugged them all the time, both on-camera and off. Now Prince William and Prince Harry both follow her example with their own kids.
