The curator of a new exhibition of royal portraits at Buckingham Palace has defended the practice of retouching images despite controversy over a Mother’s Day photo taken by Prince William.

Alessandro Nasini, the curator behind the exhibition celebrating 100 years of royal portrait photographs, said retouching – which can vary from simply cropping an image to removing entire backgrounds – remains a vital tool in royal portrait photography.

Many of the photos on display to the public at the King’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, from today have been retouched and notes describe the process.

His comments came two months after five major news and picture agencies issued ‘kill notices’ withdrawing a photograph of the Princess of Wales with her children for Mother’s Day because it had been digitally altered. Kate later admitted she had been experimenting with editing the family photo.

The curator of a new exhibition of royal portraits at Buckingham Palace has defended the practice of retouching images despite controversy over a Mother's Day photo taken by Prince William. Above: The image of the Princess of Wales with her children Prince George, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte that was released to mark Mother's Day before sparking controversy after it emerged that Kate had edited it
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The curator of a new exhibition of royal portraits at Buckingham Palace has defended the practice of retouching images despite controversy over a Mother’s Day photo taken by Prince William. Above: The image of the Princess of Wales with her children Prince George, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte that was released to mark Mother’s Day before sparking controversy after it emerged that Kate had edited it