Royalty thread #15: A New Era

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:eek: How is that any of your employer's business? Is there no doctor-patient confidentiality in Ireland?
Of course there is, but out of courtesy to my employer and my colleagues who will be filling in for me I would (and have in the past) let them know the nature of my illness and when I expect to be back at work.
 
Of course there is, but out of courtesy to my employer and my colleagues who will be filling in for me I would (and have in the past) let them know the nature of my illness and when I expect to be back at work.
Not everyone is comfortable talking about their illnesses, even with their families. Unfortunately, I know many examples when women had problems in gynecology and rarely did they talk about it at work. And when necessary, they took sick leave and did not indicate the illness. But the expected time of return to work was always specified. This should be enough.
I don’t really understand how knowing my colleagues’ diagnoses helped me replace them at work.
 
And I am incredulous that their press office is letting members of the royal household edit their own photos and distributing those same photos to the press. :confused:

But did they distribute it to the press, or did the press lift it from the social accounts?

And if they did distribute it to press directly, it would have been exactly as it was posted - here's a nice family pic for Mother's Day. Nothing wrong with a pic like that being touched up at all. EVERYONE - individuals and companies and organizations - at some point, if not every single time, is going to do the exact same thing. The company I work for relies heavily on images, and a standard step in the process is "here are the proofs, now pick the ones that we'll use on socials and in our media outreach and then we'll retouch those to prepare for distribution."

The sad part of all this, or should I say another sad part, is that poor Kate has a hobby that she clearly enjoys and now the world is picking apart her photoshop skills and if it was me, I'd never share another pic of my kids and family again. It's too bad as I for one found it refreshing and enjoyable to see her casual family pics instead of stuffy professional portraits all the time.
 
But did they distribute it to the press, or did the press lift it from the social accounts?

And if they did distribute it to press directly, it would have been exactly as it was posted - here's a nice family pic for Mother's Day. Nothing wrong with a pic like that being touched up at all. EVERYONE - individuals and companies and organizations - at some point, if not every single time, is going to do the exact same thing. The company I work for relies heavily on images, and a standard step in the process is "here are the proofs, now pick the ones that we'll use on socials and in our media outreach and then we'll retouch those to prepare for distribution."

The sad part of all this, or should I say another sad part, is that poor Kate has a hobby that she clearly enjoys and now the world is picking apart her photoshop skills and if it was me, I'd never share another pic of my kids and family again. It's too bad as I for one found it refreshing and enjoyable to see her casual family pics instead of stuffy professional portraits all the time.
I enjoy her photos, too. She is ill, so perhaps it was difficult to do her best work. I hope she isn't taking the fall for someone else.
 
The sad part of all this, or should I say another sad part, is that poor Kate has a hobby that she clearly enjoys and now the world is picking apart her photoshop skills and if it was me, I'd never share another pic of my kids and family again. It's too bad as I for one found it refreshing and enjoyable to see her casual family pics instead of stuffy professional portraits all the time.

I have seen enough of Kate's photography to think that this wasn't her photoshop job.
I like the casual family portraits too. Back in the day apparently royals couldn't even show teeth when smiling in photos.
 
And I am incredulous that their press office is letting members of the royal household edit their own photos and distributing those same photos to the press. :confused:
If Kate is to be believed, and I don't see why she shouldn't be, she edited her husband's photo and then distributed it to the press. This strikes me as very odd.
 
It has now been stated that the photograph was taken on Friday in a 40 minute time frame when all the family was at home by William on a 2,900 pound canon camera. The photo was edited twice on photoshop. Catherine has acknowledged that she herself edited it with the goal in mind to "make it the best it can be", she now feels "awful" about it, and she was "thinking of her own children when editing the picture, hoping that they looked good for their own sakes". It is certainly not new that Catherine enjoys photography and many of their pictures have not involved an outside photographer. My husband is the photographer in our family but so he is not missing in every picture he does set things up and I can point and click.

I have several friends who have suffered with serious crohns disease and similar illnesses and they are terrible. One of our friends, who works with us in a volunteer organization, has recently had a colostomy and this time it is not reversible. He came to us and had a frank discussion about how that would impact his duties. Certainly, not an easy conversation and one we would never share with anyone that does not need to know. We don't know what Catherine has had but we know it was serious with a longer recuperation which does narrow down the options. I feel this pushing them into disclosing more information is ghoulish.
 
Assuming they have anything like a normal marriage (who knows, but just assuming for the sake of argument that they do), I can easily imagine a wife saying something like, "Not bad, honey, let me just touch it up a little."

Exactly.
 
Assuming they have anything like a normal marriage (who knows, but just assuming for the sake of argument that they do), I can easily imagine a wife saying something like, "Not bad, honey, let me just touch it up a little."
I think that a lot of women posting in this thread would be up in arms if the roles were reversed.
 
I wouldn't be bothered. My husband sometimes tweaks my photos because he knows how to do it and he enjoys it and I don't.

If there wasn't a single photo of all of them looking good, it makes sense Catherine would do the photoshopping, because she's the one who is into photography.
 
My employer needs to know I'm taking leave for a medical issue. If that leave needs to be extended, they are given that information with the appropriate paperwork (ie in the US - the FLMA request). I don't believe they are entitled to know anything other than that, no medical details or even family details.

My co-workers may think they are entitled to more, but they really are not.

In the case of the BRF, is it the individual taxpayer signing the checks or the Parliament Treasurer? It's whoever the "big boss" is who may be on a need to know, not the taxpayers - and only that leave is being taken.

In my case it would be HR with a very limited amount of knowledge. My co-workers, my boss, the CEO - nope. Just the head of HR.
 
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I can easily imagine a wife saying something like, "Not bad, honey, let me just touch it up a little."
I think the point is, though, that it wasn't touching up "just a little." As countless commenters have noted, most portraits are slightly touched up. The statement by multiple press agencies that the photo does not meet their standards implies that this particular photo was doctored to a much greater extent. The fact that they are declining to release the original image also implies that there was more than a little touching up going on.

I don't argue that Kate and her family don't deserve some privacy and dignity through a difficult time, but a seriously edited photo does not help that cause. Having released the original statement that she wanted to keep her medical history private and would only provide updates on a need to know basis, they really should have just stuck with that strategy instead of trying to have it both ways. As Harry and Meghan (and multiple others before them) found out, there is no way to completely control your own narrative in the BRF's situation.
 
If I went on sick leave, I would have to produce a doctor’s note for my employer explaining exactly what my illness is and when I will expect to be back at work.
In the US, you just have to have a doctor's note saying you need to be out for a specific amount of time. The exact nature of the illness is considered private info. Now when I had my gallbladder out, I told everyone. But if I were having a colostomy bag put in, I probably wouldn't --- just because of how people would react and treat me.

I also don't get this "I pay their salaries" from taxpayers when it comes to this. She said she was having surgery and when and when she expected to be back at work. How does knowing the exact name of the surgery change your life in any way?

I think that a lot of women posting in this thread would be up in arms if the roles were reversed.
Of course, we wouldn't. People who know Photoshop are asked to work on photos of others all the time. There is nothing weird or sexist about it.

The fact that they are declining to release the original image also implies that there was more than a little touching up going on.
The Guardian wasted their time figuring out exactly what was manipulated (in their opinion) and it's all stuff where two people intersect nothing like changing someone's face (to make them look healthier, for example). Here is their article about it:


It's a tempest in a teapot IMO.
 
Tbh I feel like this is the British tabloid press putting the Wales' on notice that they are no longer the "golden couple" Royal, that the scrutiny and criticism is going to ramp up. Meghan and Harry are mostly gone, have disappeared into their mansion in Montecito. The Wales' are "next" in terms of royals on the tabloid shit list. I could be wrong but ...
 
Currently working on a family project and have been trying to decide the best photo enhancing/editing program to use on a Mac for an amateur like me. But being a typical family who has their own drama I am experiencing a lot of anxiety right now.

Having admitted that I am still open to suggestions of a good program I can use :lol: ;)
 
Both Prince William and Prince Harry witnessed the devastating impact of the quest for photos on their mother. There are stories of paparazzi cornering Diana, shouting hurtful comments at her, and then filming her tears - only to use her reaction to create a totally different narrative as to why she is crying. Prince Harry speaks of his own reaction to the click of cameras. William was older, more of his mother's confidant, and he no doubt has his share of scars from his childhood. Small wonder he is very protective of his wife and family and wants as much control as possible of the information shared.

I think it is wonderful to be invited in, so to speak, to their private moments and to see these personal family photos. No outside photographer with a bunch of cameras hanging around his neck can get these candid pictures of children. We also see many pictures of the family walking from church, at public occasions, so it is not like we are totally reliant on their own releases.

I also understand that the timing is terrible for this question of authenticity. If we had just seen them at Sandringham, no health issues, I doubt this would be such an issue. It will be interesting to see what the outcome is. Do they only submit professionally taken pictures in the future? Does Catherine and even William ever just blow up and tell them all where to go?
 
Having released the original statement that she wanted to keep her medical history private and would only provide updates on a need to know basis, they really should have just stuck with that strategy instead of trying to have it both ways.
This. They should've just said Kate is recovering and kept it at that. People are going to speculate no matter what. Let them. Don't feed into it.
 
I think the Wales' have gotten so used to fawning coverage from the media that they thought the fawning coverage was going to be forever. They didn't realize that the only reason they got the fawning coverage was they were held up as a foil to the "enemy" Meghan and Harry. Once M&H dipped out press needs a new target.
 
If I went on sick leave, I would have to produce a doctor’s note for my employer explaining exactly what my illness is and when I will expect to be back at work. I don’t think my employer would be impressed with me telling them to STFU and mind their own business. The British taxpayers are funding the royal family’s lifestyle
1. You live and work in Ireland and are applying your country's standards to somewhere else. As many others have said, the right to privacy is stronger in other countries than it seems to be in Ireland.

2. When the late Queen was pregnant, Buckingham Palace issued statements saying that she would not have any public engagements for several months. I think that it would have been enough for Kate to say that she was recuperating from abdominal surgery, but she didn't leave well enough alone.

3. Some part of the Prince and Princess of Wales' lifestyle is funded by British taxpayers, but most of it is financed by the Duchy of Cornwall. One can debate whether things should be this way, but, even to the degree that the taxpayers are paying for any of this, their right to know should not be so great as to intrude on the details of an individual's medical treatment.
 
I guess, because of the age I am, I can't help but wonder how the Middletons cope with all this and manage to keep their mouths shut. I think I would feel like the troublesome uncle who just says what he thinks.

I doubt William was naive at all about the vindictiveness of the press and their impact on both of his parents and their already troubled marriage. Some of the older royal correspondents like to call both William and Harry "stubborn" but small wonder they are both in their own way trying to protect their wives and children. That whole Martin Bashir interview that involved faked bank statements, the BBC, and designed to feed Diana's paranoia in order to get her to share her personal issues in her marriage is just sick.
 
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I don’t think anyone in the royal family is under any illusions about the press. They’ve all had a lifetime of riding the beast and they know it’ll turn on them the minute it makes for a better story.
Kate especially as she was their punching bag for a while. I think she is well aware that it could happen again.
 
I must have missed Kate ever being a punching bag. For as long as I can remember she's been praised for her beauty, her "ladylike" fashions, how cute her kids are, how close-knit the Middleton family is, etc.
 
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