Photographer Misan Harriman has denied claims that he heavily edited Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s 2021 pregnancy announcement.
“Unfortunately there’s been an article on the Daily Mail saying that I have admitted to doctoring the pregnancy announcement portrait I took of Harry and Meghan,” Harriman, 46, said in a Wednesday, March 13, Instagram video. “Apparently I was switching out trees and meadows and I admitted this in an episode of a podcast called ‘Private Passions.’ This is crazy.”
Daily Mail reported earlier on Wednesday that Harriman had discussed the portrait session during a 2022 appearance on the BBC Radio 3 podcast. The outlet claimed that the radio host insinuated that Harry, 39, and Meghan, 42, were not under a willow tree when Harriman snapped the pic.
“Yeah they were lost in their love, at home, in their garden, comfortable, celebrating new joy,” Harriman replied at the time.
Harriman clarified on Wednesday that they had been discussing “the technology [he] used to shoot during lockdown” when he was asked leading questions.
“What I mean by leading questions is what some journalists do where they make a statement as fact and they hope you respond or add something to it,” he said. “I get that a lot in regards to Harry and Meghan and I tend to swerve and get back on track rather than [share] any sort of intrigue or gossip. And that’s exactly what happened.”
Harry and Meghan announced in February 2021 that they were expecting their second child by sharing Harriman’s photo. (Meghan gave birth to daughter Princess Lilibet, her rainbow baby after a previous miscarriage, in June 2021.)
“We can confirm that [Prince] Archie is going to be a big brother,” a spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said at the time. “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are overjoyed to be expecting their second child.”
In Harriman’s original black-and-white photo, Meghan laid on the ground cradling her baby bump next to Harry, who stroked her hair and smiled. Harriman further doesn’t understand how the photo and his podcast comments could admit guilt.
“How that exchange could amount to me admitting to doctoring an image is insidious and really dangerous,” he quipped in his Wednesday social media upload. “Any mention of meadows and willow trees came out of the person doing the interview and not my mouth. I did my best to ignore it and focus on what I want to talk about.”
Harriman then uploaded his “original Jpeg without the black and white grade” to Instagram.
“No trees or meadows were moved or swapped, this is the image straight out of camera,” he wrote via Instagram. “Also that is a Jacaranda Tree, not a willow tree.”
Harriman shared the full-color image, as well as the stats about the camera, which revealed that the photo was taken via an 8th-generation iPad back camera. (It was a virtual portrait session taken during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown.)
Harriman’s comments come shortly after Harry and Meghan’s sister-in-law, Princess Kate Middleton, has been under fire for admittedly editing a family photo.
Kate, 42, who underwent abdominal surgery in January, broke her silence on her recovery on Sunday, March 10, in honor of the U.K.’s Mother’s Day. To celebrate, she released a new family photo — taken by husband Prince William earlier this year — with sons Prince George, 10, and Prince Louis, 5, and daughter Princess Charlotte, 8.
Within hours, multiple news outlets issued a “kill notice” to remove the photo from their websites because it had allegedly been manipulated by the source. The pic also sparked speculation from royal watchers about Kate’s well-being because the photo appeared to have been Photoshopped.
Kate later issued a statement regarding the backlash.
“Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” she wrote in a statement shared via social media. “I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day.”
