Meghan Markle's Promo Photo Sparks Kate Middleton Comparisons, and Fans Are Divided
The Duchess posted a series of photos and videos to promote her latest Christmas product; however, fans noticed something odd.
Meghan Markle recently announced a limited-edition Christmas Advent Calendar featuring handmade decadent goodies by Los Angeles chocolatier Compartes. The surprise package is only available in the US and features 24 handcrafted chocolates inspired by Markle's signature As Ever spreads and her Montecito home. The Duchess posted a series of photos and videos to promote her product; however, fans noticed something odd that immediately drew parallels to Kate Middleton's Photoshop fails.
Fans accused the Duchess of using AI and shared zoomed-in versions of her post on X to point out six fingers. "Meghan Markle using AI for Ass Never. Six fingers is a classic example of AI. She can’t even be bothered to take a simple photo. Are the media and @GettyImages going to go mad about this, like they did about a simple Mother’s Day photo?" @TribesBritannia criticized, referring to Kate's 2024 digitally altered pictures that were circulated on Mother's Day. "It’s deliberate; she knows her photos get dissected, and it gets her the traction and attention she craves," @TheWoolPainter added. However, a few X users tried to shed light on it by blaming the angles. "I never wanna defend her, but when you zoom in, you can see the outline of the five fingers. No extras. She does a lot of crap. Call her out on those," @na_golo stated.
"No Photoshop fail (this time), just a bad photo. She’s just got 5 fingers, oddly placed, but her middle finger (dark blue) interrupts the aqua finger, making it look like extra," @Ninjanoodler analyzed with markings.
Meanwhile, Middleton was similarly accused of using Photoshop tools to enhance a Mother's Day tribute. On March 10, she shared a photo with her three children—Louis, George, and Charlotte. She wished everyone a Happy Mother’s Day, signing off with a “C” for Catherine and giving photo credit to her husband, the Prince of Wales. Within 12 hours, major photo and news agencies, including the Associated Press, Getty Images, Reuters, and AFP, removed the photo from their libraries due to concerns about digital alteration.
The AP even issued a 'kill notification', PEOPLE! reported. Following the heavy criticism and backlash, the Princess of Wales issued a public apology on X, stating, "Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother's Day."
