Kate Middleton’s Photo Controversy Is Pretty Damning Says U.K. PR Expert
People
Mark Borkowski, a London-based public relations and crisis communications expert, tells PEOPLE that in trying to share a new image with the public, the palace hasn’t calmed concerns — “in fact, it’s made it worse.”
“Now some people are asking if it is all generated by AI or is it a Photoshop of a photo taken. It’s not something you’d want the royal brand to be aligned with,” he says.
A palace insider downplayed the PR crisis, telling PEOPLE exclusively that although the situation is a “bump in the road, it’s not an earthquake.”
“[Kate] has apologized and graciously so,” the insider says. “She has done something that 99% of us do — and we don’t have the scrutiny that they do.”
“Think of the level of scrutiny of pictures of her, as people pore over them,” the insider continues. “You’re always on display and always got to be perfect.”
The insider adds, “She might be a member of the royal family, but she’s also a human being. If you’ve just had an operation, you want to look your best with the first photograph that’s published for the outside world.”
Borkowski points out that while the royal family’s policy was “never complain, never explain” during Queen Elizabeth’s reign, “The royals have got themselves cornered by giving some level of information but never enough.” He adds this “halfway” approach “has resulted in this rather unfortunate photo driving a story where perhaps it would normally be shrugged off.”