Prince Harry and Meghan Dragged Into Fake Photo Saga

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were caught in the crossfire of Kate Middleton's doctored picture scandal after a bizarre story in a U.S. tabloid led to accusations over a past picture of them.

The Princess of Wales had been off work since abdominal surgery on January 16 and was the subject of feverish speculation when Kensington Palace put out a Mother's Day portrait of Kate with her children.

However, picture agencies "killed" the image over evidence it had been manipulated, and on Monday, she apologized for editing it.

During weeks of high-profile social media conspiracy theories, Harry and Meghan stayed mostly out of the fray, quietly undertaking their own jobs and visits.

However, an article in the New York Post's Page Six then appeared, stating: "Sources close to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry waded into Kate Middleton's bizarre photo-editing crisis Monday."

Meghan and Harry's Archewell foundation told Newsweek: "With respect to Page Six, that did not come from us."

The article, which did not name its source, suggested Kate's botched Photoshop job was a mistake Meghan would never make because she has a "keen eye" and "freakish attention to detail."

It added that Harry and Meghan would have been "annihilated" had they made the same mistake and asserted that the media treats them differently.

The article sparked a backlash in Britain, where news outlets pointed out that their friend Misan Harriman appeared to have acknowledged editing a tree into the background of their pregnancy portrait. Harriman later issued a social media rebuttal, saying the only thing he changed was the black-and-white color.

Harriman appeared on the BBC Radio 3 podcast Private Passions in 2022, and he was asked: "They weren't actually under a willow tree, but they were lying outside in a meadow, weren't they, Harry and Meghan, when you took the photograph of them?"

The photographer replied, "Hmm, yeah, they were lost in their love at home in their garden, comfortable, celebrating new joy."

However, in a clapback on X, formerly Twitter, he said he had been asked a loaded question by the host and had not doctored the picture.

"To see an article saying as fact that I did what I did not do is extraordinary to me," he said in a video statement posted on March 13, "and then to try and merge it with this current news cycle of what's happening... it's tragic to see.

"It was a virtual shoot that I shot on an iPad, an 8 megapixel iPad. And the only thing that was changed is a black and white color grade, that's it. And the Daily Mail and the journalist who wrote this has to be better than this. It's dangerous and unacceptable behavior."

U.K. tabloid The Sun, which, like the Post, is Murdoch-owned, was also among those to take umbrage, running the headline: "HEIRBRUSHED Meghan & Harry camp branded hypocrites over Kate pic jibe as snapper pal ADMITS massive edit on official pregnancy photo."

Of course, it was not clear who the source of the Post story was and it is entirely possible it is someone tangentially connected to them but not officially authorized to speak on their behalf. And of course, Archewell denied being the source to Newsweek.

They may have a hard time persuading some journalists of that, though, since "sources close to" is widely regarded within the newspaper industry as a hint that a quote may have come off the record from a spokesperson.

There are, though, other source quotes that have been flying around about the Sussexes that are certainly a long way from the kind of language used when they were at Kensington Palace, including a quote in a recent People article suggesting a rebranding of the couple may be on the cards: "What we're seeing—and will see more of I think—is Heghan 2.0. Part Deux."

It is a long way from Queen Elizabeth II's "some recollections may vary."

Meanwhile, Kensington Palace continues to face rampant conspiracy theories about Kate's health, with no sign of the crisis abating, despite Kate's apology on Monday.

And after the calamity of Kate's editing a Mother's Day picture, pressure has been building even within normally pro-monarchy sections of the press.

Prominent Daily Mail columnist Sarah Vine wrote: "The difficulty with the picture is that it is, in effect, a lie.

"What's worse, it now looks like a lie conceived to hide other lies, a classic example of that old adage: it's not the crime that gets you, but the cover-up.

"And there's only one way to put an end to it: Come clean about what's really going on—or risk drowning in a quagmire of their own making."

Her article was trailed on the newspaper's front page.

Jack Royston is Newsweek's chief royal correspondent based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.

Update 3/13/24, 10:23 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.