Photoshop experts reveal the telltale signs that Kate Middleton would have used editing tools to create Mother's Day snap with her children

The Princess of Wales' Mother's Day portrait may have been changed using AI or even be a number of photos spliced together to create the 'perfect family photo', experts told MailOnline today.

Prince William and Kate Middleton have been urged to release the original photo after at least 16 mysterious manipulations have been spotted in the 24 hours since its release.

The innocent Mother's Day picture of the Princess of Wales and her three children has sparked an international scandal after most of the world's major picture agencies 'killed' the image and questioned its integrity.

Kate apologised for her editing skills today but experts have had their say on what they think has happened and how the picture was digitally altered. A source said the Princess of Wales made some 'minor adjustments'.

Some believe the Princess of Wales used an AI tool such as 'Best Take' found on a top of the range £1,059 Google Pixel 8 phone, which merges a burst of pictures into one perfected image to ensure all those in the images are smiling and have their eyes open, for example. But this can lead to blurred lines and glitches in final images.

Others have blamed 'sloppy' use of Photoshop or other computer software such as Topaz routinely used to improve images. But most have said that the edits by Kate were done to improve the photo rather than 'deceive'.

One photographer told MailOnline today that the public can be sure of about the controversial image is that Kate was sat with her children for the portrait. But Katie Mortimore believes it was then 'manipulated' to create the 'perfect family photo'.

Paul Clarke said he wondered if it was so drastically changed that even 'snot on a sleeve' of a royal child or another mark may have been removed to perfect every element of the final released image.

MailOnline can reveal the verdicts of leading experts from around the world about the 'CuffGate' scandal, so named because Princess Charlotte's left hand is misaligned with the sleeve of her cardigan, casting doubt on the authenticity of the image and leading to the rare 'kill notice' for a royal picture. 

EPA are among the agencies to 'kill and delete' alert amid questions about how heavily edited the photo of Kate on Mother's Day with her children really was

Charlotte's floating left wrist is believed to be the reason that picture was pulled

MailOnline has found at least 16 potential issues with the photo

Kate used Photoshop to create a dream family photo using two or more pictures 

Photographer Katie Mortimore believes the picture has been enhanced using Adobe's Photoshop software.

Photoshop can be used to stitch together several photos together - but when not done properly 

She said: 'The photo is clearly manipulated. What is not clear is if it is a combination of two similar frames to look its best or is a fabrication in parts.

'I personally am fairly confident the Princess of Wales was sat in the chair with her children but without her arms around them. To be fair with recent major abdominal surgery that sort of reach of both arms would likely be painful.

'I don't believe this is the first manipulated image from the palace BUT this coincides with the Princess' illness so only raises more questions rather than dispelling them.

Speaking to the Newspage news agency she added: 'The palace would be best to release the raw image to agencies but I would be surprised to see it happen. Why did the image get manipulated? I suspect the Princess did it as a keen photographer wanting to create a near perfect family photo'.

Basic and giveaway errors 

Welsh photographer Stephen Davies has the nickname 'The Photoshop Guy' and has been using the software for 25 years.

He told MailOnline today that he knew immediately that the Princess of Wales had used the Adobe product to improve the Mother's Day portrait – but unfortunately had made some basic and giveaway errors.

He also believes that the Princess of Wales may have inserted her right hand using AI.

He said: 'I saw the family photo of Kate on social media this morning with people claiming it's been photoshopped. I noticed at least five areas that looked wrong straight away. The sleeve area by Charlotte's arm, the line through Kate's zip on her jacket, the join on the jumper, Kate's right hand looks like it has been inserted using AI, as the quality of this area is low res and lost all texture and the current AI in photoshop behaves exactly like this, unless you know how to enhance it. Lastly, the skirting board in the bottom corner is not lining up'.

He added: 'Things to look out for to detect if an image is edited, is low res parts, look for things that don't line up and any ghosting effects' – a photographic term for blurring.

But he said Kate was not trying to deceive the public.

'I do similar work for others on a daily basis, I don't see no harm in using digital technology to make the perfect photo and that's all I believe has happened here, Kate merged a few photos together to get the perfect photo with all kids smiling and looking at the camera, unfortunately she missed a few gaps in the editing', he said.

Mr Davies said he believes Kate used Photoshop and the Generative AI feature within Photoshop. 

Images are from the same sitting on the same day

James Middleton is an Adobe Photoshop expert who has been using software on a professional basis since 1996 and is a lecturer at several universities in Britain.

He told MailOnline today that he had run the image through Error Level Analysis (ELA), which looks at areas within an image that are at different compression levels.

Mr Middleton said: 'Basically, it's a good way of ironing out if the image has been taken from multiple sources. I completely ruled that out.

'I did find quite a high number of anomalies in the image which clearly point towards to manipulation, especially around her face - almost a rectangle of anomalies.

'Others dotted around the image - around Charlotte's knees there was a slight anomaly there. I've come to the conclusion that what's happened is they've taken a series of photographs in one sitting.'

He said William would have been 'stood there in one position' and software was then used to improve the photo, but added: 'When I analysed the photo I couldn't see evidence of anybody tampering with it extensively in Photoshop.'

Mr Middleton – no relation to Kate's family – added: 'Where you see the joins, generally speaking they were curves rather than straight lines. When someone is editing a photograph they generally don't generate curves because they are very difficult to produce.

'All I can conclude really is that the way it looks on the ELA, it looks like perhaps the photograph was taken in a sequence and it was just the best of this and the best of that and made a few mistakes along the way.

'I don't want to say this is 100 per cent, but I would say it's highly unlikely that any of the image has been manipulated to the degree that they've taken Kate out of one photo, a completely different sitting and day, and they've put her into that image. It's more likely that they've taken a series of photos in the same day and done a composite.'

He also described how there are 'some areas in focus and out of focus in the same area - and areas of the children's clothing', and 'quite a few strange things'.

Mr Middleton said there were patterns which made him think some AI had been used in the processing, but these were 'minimal things - slight tweaks and removals'.

He concluded: 'I would say generally speaking this is probably an authentic photo but it has been worked on to some degree - there are clearly pixels that have been moved, the zip is the classic example.

'Two other areas where the hair is too smooth. Kate's hair on the left of the image is very slightly too out of focus which is a bit strange again. And there's an anomaly on Kate's right hand - the hand suddenly ends short and there's a dark mark.'

Google Pixel AI for the perfect smiling faces

Some experts believe that if the pictures were taken on a mobile phone, AI-led software could have been used to improve the picture.

'Best Take' is available on the Google Pixel 8 phone and is particularly good for group photos, especially if children are involved.

The software finds photos taken in sequence in a 10-second burst and then finally suggest images of faces where subjects are looking at the lens and smiling. 

Patrick Whitty, who takes pictures for the New York Times, TIME and National Geographic tweeted: 'My guess is that it was taken with the Google Pixel 8, with the 'Best Take' feature, which chooses the 'best face' for each person and automatically merges them into one photo.

'There are so many red flags in this photo from Kensington Palace. Surprised the wires would move it'.

Cleaned up with a 'clone tool' 

A cloning tool allows a user to rub out something in a photo - such as the sign in the background of this picture

Experts have also suggested that Kate may have used a so-called 'clone tool' to clean up a photograph. 

The  tool allows the user to seamlessly remove unwanted artifacts from an image, such as things in the background or blemishes on a person.

Freelance photographer Paul Bevan tweeted: 'I don't think it's dodgy. Someone was trying to clean the photo up a bit and used the clone tool and did not use it very well and they were pushed for time to get the photo out. I'd like to see the original version'.

Images taken at a single shoot were combined

Photographers working in the industry for years believe that Kate has combined several photographs.

This was probably to ensure that George, Charlotte and Louis were all looking in the same direction and smiling.  

Jon Mills, Group Picture Editor of SWNS, the UK's second largest press agency told MailOnline: 'However the Palace ended up releasing this particular image it's really clumsy editing, it wasn't done by a professional. 

'But the quality of the image is consistent so my best guess is that elements from images taken at a single shoot were combined. 

'It probably shows the pressure the Prince of Wales is under to show his family in the best light rather than any attempt to deceive'.

Amateur editing

Paul Clarke, one of Britain's most experienced photographers, said that problems may have been caused by the search for a perfect picture, and perhaps trying to clean up imperfections.

'Here we have puzzling decisions about the picture's creation and it's sloppy editing (a bit of snot on the sleeve? who knows) that just don't make much sense', he tweeted.

'There are numerous 100%-certain photographic manipulations easily visible on that Kate photo. What were they thinking?'