It seems like the royal abode of Kensington Palace, where Prince William and Princess Catherine (you know, Kate Middleton) reside, has become the latest addition to the list of untrustworthy establishments according to a major news agency.
Picture this: Phil Chetwynd, the global news director of Agence France-Presse (AFP), decides to spill the royal tea during an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Media Show. And boy, did he have some spicy commentary about the recent photo fiasco involving the Duchess of Cambridge.
In case you haven’t been keeping up with the palace drama, let me fill you in. It turns out that a snap of Princess Catherine and her kiddos got a bit of a Photoshop makeover, leading press organizations like the Associated Press to scream “off with their heads!” and issue a mandatory kill order for the altered image.
During the interview, Phil didn’t hold back, comparing the Palace to some rather colorful characters like North Korea and Iran. Yep, you heard that right. The Palace is apparently as trustworthy as a politician promising free unicorns.
According to Phil, the Palace is now about as reliable as a chocolate teapot. He even went on to say, “Absolutely not!” when asked if they’re a trusted source anymore. Ouch, that’s gotta sting more than a swarm of angry bees in the royal garden.
He even mentioned that the AFP sent out memos to their teams, basically telling them to channel their inner Sherlock Holmes and be super-duper vigilant about the content they’re served, even if it comes from sources as “trusted” as a royal decree.
Now, let’s talk about these kill orders. Apparently, they’re rarer than a sighting of the Loch Ness Monster doing the Macarena. Phil revealed that they aim to issue one less often than you find a four-leaf clover in a field of daisies. And get this, previous targets for such orders included the likes of the North Korean news agency and the Iranian news agency. Yep, seems like the Palace has found itself in rather notorious company.
Phil spilled the tea on how multiple organizations had a chinwag about the dodgy photo before deciding to hit the kill switch. They even politely asked the Palace for the original, unedited version, but alas, it was as elusive as Prince Harry’s hairline.
In a nutshell, Phil made it clear that you can’t go around bending reality like a yoga instructor on steroids. Trust, or the lack thereof, is the name of the game here. And let’s face it, when even the media is side-eyeing your Photoshop skills, you know you’ve royally messed up.
So, let this be a lesson: if you’re going to doctor photos, at least make sure you’re not doing it from a royal residence. After all, the only thing more scandalous than a royal scandal is a badly edited royal photo.
