Prince William, Princess Kate ‘AI photo' sparks panic, royal aide clears air

Prince William and Princess Kate seemed to have found themselves in a rather troublesome situation as a photo sparked a brief panic.

The Prince and Princess of Wales, who met and fell in love while studying at St Andrew’s University, had plenty of time to get to know each other and enjoy private moments together.

The public has seen glimpses of them from the era over the years but a major chunk of that life has remained private.

A former royal butler recently shared a rare photo of the young couple, which seemed raise concerns over the veracity of the image.

Grant Harrold, 48, worked as King Charles and Queen Camilla's royal butler from 2004 to 2011, had shared the image, which is why many keen observers were left baffled to see why an ex-royal aide make such a blunder. Eagle-eyed social media users clocked it as ‘AI’ very quickly.

Following the incident, the butler was forced to issue a statement to clear the air about the photo.

“After reading a few comments, I would like to reiterate that I did not take or own this image. It is how I remember them in my early years in the Royal Household,” the King’s former butler said.

“I did not take or own the image of William and Kate that I posted, he explained, noting that while he is well-versed in royal etiquette, AI is “harder to detect”.

“I always try to do my due diligence before sharing any posts – to me, I only saw in this image a young William and Kate that reminded me so much of how they were when I first had the pleasure of working for them”. 

When the photo had emerged, royal sources had told the Daily Mail's Richard Eden that “questions” were being raised over the photo.

Many fans expressed that how AI is getting “scarier” and one doesn’t realise “what’s real anymore”.

However, Kensington Palace did not issue an official response to the matter.