Prince William and Kate's Christmas card raises eyebrows: ‘Photoshop fail? AI generated?’

Soon after the Prince and Princess of Wales released their annual Christmas card on Saturday, social media was buzzing with speculation that the British royals had been heavily edited in the photograph. The black-and-white Christmas card shows Prince William and Kate posing with their three children – Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis – against a grey background.

The Christmas card caused quite a stir with accusations of “Photoshop fail” as eagle-eyed viewers noticed several “discrepancies” in the family portrait shot by photographer Josh Shinner.
In fact, since being shared online on December 9, the Prince and Princess of Wales’s Christmas card has collected over 22 million views on X (formerly Twitter), along with hundreds of comments pointing out ‘Photoshop fails’ in the monochrome pic.

Several commenters asked why Prince Louis appears to be missing a finger. “Is Prince Louis really missing a finger or is that bad photoshop??” asked one person. Another said he appears to have six fingers.

Some, however, offered a plausible explanation, saying that Louis held his hand in such a way that his middle finger appeared to be missing.

Social media users also said that Prince William appeared to be missing a leg. Similar accusations were also levelled against Kate Middleton.

“While it's a nice family photo, as soon as I looked at it, I noticed Louis hand. He's missing a finger. That got me looking closer. His right leg looks swollen. Where's William's thigh? Where's Kate's other foot?” asked one commenter.