Why are royal families so bad at photoshop?

The royals are back doing what they do best (aka worst): photoshopping their official images. 

Over the weekend, the first official gala portrait of King Frederik X and Queen Mary of Denmark was released — and look, something ain't adding up.

The Royal House dropped the pic to celebrate the country’s reigning monarchs, who both acceded to the throne back in January following Queen Margrethe II's abdication.

In the image, the Danish royals stand next to each other, but it looks like their photos were captured separately and then photoshopped back together.

Take a look-see...

Queen Mary and King Frederik X of Denmark. Image: Steen Evald.

Something is suss, right?

Online commenters have taken note of how Queen Mary's hand awkwardly overlaps her husband's, suggesting she was edited into the image. Both royals also appear potentially photoshopped on to the background too, as the lighting is different in the foreground of the shot. 

Despite how awkward the image appears, the royals plan on making this their official pic together.

"The portrait can henceforth be seen hung in, among other places, state institutions, including at Danish embassies and consulates around the world and on Danish vessels," read a statement from Denmark's Royal House.

It's worth noting that in Mary's solo image, the light looks the same, so one could easily assume she had a single photo taken that was slotted into the couple portrait.

Queen Mary of Denmark. Image: Steen Evald.

This *potential* editing fail follows Princess Catherine's reveal earlier this year that she'd been "experimenting with editing", after a photo she shared for UK Mother's Day was later deemed by the Associated Press to have been digitally altered.

Princess Catherine and kids Louis, George and Charlotte. Image: Instagram/Prince and Princess of Wales.

The photo was considered suspicious for a few reasons: the children's jumpers appeared raised at the edges, Princess Charlotte's hand looked altered, and Kate Middleton's hair, hand and zipper seemed out of place.

Given that at the time Middleton hadn't been seen in public for several weeks, some people theorised the image was created through AI, or the Princess' face was lifted from an old issue of Vogue magazine.

Middleton later shared she stepped away from royal duties because she was diagnosed with cancer.

my analysis of the kate middleton photo saga is that they took her face from the vogue cover she did years ago and edited it in pic.twitter.com/JLXts08zp5

— Ruby Naldrett (@rubynaldrett) March 11, 2024

All of this begs one simple question, though: how are these royals — with all the money and resources in the world — still so bad at Photoshop?

The photo above was taken by Prince William and altered by Princess Catherine, who later issued "apologies for any confusion" the family photograph caused.

But... why is the Princess of Wales even being tasked with editing her own photos?

And in the case of the Danish royals, why — even after enlisting the help of a professional — does the image still look straight-up unhinged?

Perhaps these royals could learn a thing or two from the Kardashians.

Feature image: Steen Evald.