Royal Photo Manipulation

For editorial, it has always been vital that images are unedited as proof they reflect true life. Portrait images have long been photoshopped to look their best. The photo is clearly manipulated. What is not clear is if it is a combination of two similar frames to look its best or is a fabrication in parts. I personally am fairly confident the Princess was sat in the chair with her children but without her arms around them. To be fair with recent major abdominal surgery that sort of reach of both arms would likely be painful. I don’t believe this is the first manipulated image from the palace but the fact this coincides with the Princess’ illness only raises more questions rather than dispelling them. The palace would be best to release the raw image to agencies but I would be surprised to see it happen. Why did the image get manipulated? I suspect the Princess did it as a keen photographer wanting to create a near perfect family photo.