LONDON—In a scandal of historic proportions that forced the royal family to issue an apology to those upset by the image, Buckingham Palace came under fire Friday for not altering a photograph of King Charles III enough before releasing it to the public. “Under close inspection, it appears the grotesque face of Charles in this photo was almost entirely unretouched, making its publication a clear violation of our editorial standards,” read a statement from the Associated Press, one of several news organizations that printed and later retracted the image, concluding that the royals had not artificially modified it to the extent necessary to make it suitable for human eyes. “You can tell by the unbroken seams in the background that, rather than a blend of digital manipulation tactics, this is actually the king’s deeply cragged, misshapen head, and these are his naturally red, swollen sausage fingers. Going forward, we will need to reconsider whether we can count Buckingham Palace as a trusted source, or whether officials there will agree to at least add a blur layer or soften the brightness before sending us these things.” At press time, an updated version of the image was deemed fit for circulation after a large black box was placed over Charles’ face.
Comments are closed.