A royal photographer strongly denied manipulating photos of Harry and Meghan, as the 'Katespiracy' spreads

• Misan Harriman, a royal photographer, defended his work from claims it had been manipulated.

• Harriman is known for photographing Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

• Suspicion of royal photos has been rampant after news agencies recalled an image of Kate Middleton.

Widespread suspicion that photos of the royal family are not what they seem has led one photographer to furiously defend his work.

Misan Harriman, a photographer who has taken pictures of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, said he wanted to refute claims that he had retouched the images.

Harriman, 46, is well known for his portraits of celebrities and royals, including Harry, Meghan, and their children.

He went as far as to share raw images and metadata that proved he had not altered the images while objecting to the conspiratorial mindset he said prompted him to act.

He was referring to the so-called "Katespiracy," the online movement alleging something insidious is behind the Princess of Wales' absence from public life.

One turn of that saw Kensington Palace issue a photo of Kate and her children, only to have major photo and news agencies recall it when it became clear it'd been altered. Kate later admitted to tweaking the image herself.

Last week, Harriman said that he did not photoshop a 2021 pregnancy photo of Meghan and Harry after it was suggested that he digitally added a willow tree to the background.

His latest post dealt with a different image, the official portrait of Harry and Meghan at the One Young World summit in Manchester, England, in September 2022.

Writing on X, Harriman said YouTubers were spreading "hate" and misinformation about the photo.

"So this is the RAW/DNG file of my image, it's extraordinary that photographers are having to do this, what is worse is that @YouTube @YouTubeCreators is allowing these pages that publish so much hate to stay up on their platform," Harriman wrote, alongside a link to the original photo of Harry and Meghan. RAW and DNG are file formats for uncompressed images that professionals often use.

"They are easy to find and should be easy to remove. I will be speaking to the senior team at YouTube directly about this, this is a trust and safety issue," he said.

Harriman continued, saying that "nothing has been manipulated beyond a color grade," a common editing technique. He said the suggestion of any substantive manipulation was "insidious."

"Also folks that understand photography will know the difference between an edited image and a manipulated image," he said.

"In regard to defamation, my team are looking at every legal recourse. This has to stop."

Representatives for Harriman and YouTube did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

The 'Katespiracy' has caused a wave of speculation about royal photos

Kate's edited Mother's Day photo blew up online after major photo agencies recalled the image, saying it had been manipulated.

In a statement shared on X, Kate wrote that she occasionally experiments with "editing" and that she "wanted to express my apologies for any confusion" that it caused.

The photo and subsequent backlash further fueled conspiracy theories about Kate's prolonged absence from royal duties even though the palace had already confirmed she would be taking time off to recover from abdominal surgery.

Meanwhile, CNN said it will now review all photos distributed by William and Kate's team at Kensington Palace. Speaking on BBC's "The Media Show," Phil Chetwynd, the global news director of Agence France-Press, said the palace was no longer a trusted source.

But the lack of trust has extended beyond the palace and to well-respected royal photographers, like Harriman, who have since faced accusations of editing or manipulating photos of the royal family.

Chris Allerton, who took the 2019 christening photos for Harry and Meghan's son, Archie, recently denied an allegation by the photo agency Getty Images that his image was "digitally enhanced."

Speaking to the Daily Mail on Tuesday, Allerton said the suggestion was "a load of cobblers."

He went into further detail the next day, telling the Daily Express: "I would like to state very clearly and thus clarify matters that the photograph you are referring to, taken by me at Windsor Castle on July 6, 2019, has not been manipulated and was distributed to the best of my knowledge in adherence with the submission guidelines required by Getty Images, via the Palace press office."

Getty Images later issued a correction note, clarifying that the photo wasn't altered, the Daily Express reported.

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