Stephen Colbert took aim at Kate Middleton and the Royal Family following her viral edited photograph on Monday night’s installment of “Late Show.”
After pointing out to his audience how editors and amateur sleuths were able to determine the photograph was edited, Colbert said, “These are all Photoshop errors and not, as many had assumed, the result of centuries of inbreeding.”
The joke went over so well, Colbert paused to acknowledge “The Late Show” band leader Louis Cato’s reaction before diving into his next segment.
“To put the scandal to rest the palace has released the original image of Kate skateboarding over a tiger,” Colbert continued.
The late night host also faked outrage over the edited photograph scandal. “How dare they! The one thing we know about royalty is what you see is what you get. What’s next? Are you going to tell us that the King isn’t real?” Colbert said, showing a photo of the Burger King mascot.
On Tuesday, Middleton admitted to digitally altering the photograph of her and her three children. “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” a statement from Middleton that was posted on X read. “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.”
The photograph caused such an uproar online that many news agencies issued a “kill order” over it. This manipulated photo was released after Middleton’s health and whereabouts have been under intense scrutiny following an abdominal surgery the Princess of Wales had in January.
