Anti-disinformation crusader debunks wild Kate Middleton conspiracy theory: ‘It hurts my brain’

nypost.com:

doctored post-surgery family photo.Elliot Higgins, the founder of the Netherlands-based Bellingcat investigative journalism group, demonstrated on X on Monday why it was highly unlikely that the Princess of Wales’ image from the June 2016 issue of British Vogue had been recycled for her viral UK Mother’s Day snap.“There’s so many minor differences, like the reflection of the light in her pupils, the light and shadow on her face, the teeth visible, wrinkles, etc.

etc., that it’s clearly just a photo of the same woman from about the same angle, not the same exact photo,” Higgins explained.

The anti-disinformation blogger added: “It hurts my brain that I even have to point this out, I think I’m going to go bed and hope people become more sensible overnight.”Higgins was responding to a theory first put forward by Ruby Naldrett, a senior social media editor for the UK tabloids the Daily Mirror and the Daily Star, who claimed that her “analysis” of the photo saga has led her to conclude that Kate’s face from the eight-year-old photoshoot had been “edited” into the new image showing the princess with her children.By Tuesday afternoon, Naldrett’s post has been viewed an astonishing 44 million times. “When I first saw this, I assumed it was a parody, but I was clearly mistaken,” Higgins said, referring to the conspiracy theory.

On Tuesday, Naldrett appeared to tone down her rhetoric surrounding the photo-tampering claims — even as she called on Kensington Palace to set the record straight. “I know a lot of people disagree and say it’s normal for someone to look the same way, but the pictures are eight years apart and almost exactly the same,” she told the Daily Star.