Former Royal Butler Apologises After Sharing Alleged AI-Generated Photo Of Prince William And Kate Middleton

A former royal butler to King Charles III has expressed regret after sharing a photo of Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, that was allegedly generated using artificial intelligence.

On May 26, Grant Harrold addressed the backlash he received after posting what appeared to be a previously unseen throwback image of the royal couple on Instagram.

The photo, which Harrold shared on May 23, showed a young Kate sitting on William’s lap as the pair embraced each other warmly. Captioning the image, Harrold wrote, “This wonderful photo of the Prince and Princess of Wales was taken when I first met them back in 2004. A true royal love story.”

However, many social media users questioned the image’s authenticity, with several suggesting AI may have generated it.

Responding to the controversy in a long statement shared via his Instagram Stories, Harrold said he had “genuinely mistaken” the image for a real photograph.

“It has come to my attention that the authenticity of a recent image I shared has been questioned as AI,” he wrote. “I love sharing my experiences and memories of working with the royal family, and I strive for my content to be a reflection of the great years I spent as part of the household.”

Harrold further explained that he neither took nor owned the image and had believed it to be authentic when he first saw it.

“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,” he added.