Bizarre detail in snap of Queen and Philip roasted

Prince Philip is celebrating his 99th birthday in Windsor Castle with Queen Elizabeth today, though an official portrait of the royal couple has sparked more raised eyebrows than happy returns.

Celebrating the Prince’s milestone, the royal family’s official social media channels released a photo of the pair at Windsor Castle, where they are seeing out the coronavirus pandemic.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip pose in official portrait taken to celebrate Phillip's 99th birthday, sparks photoshop rumours with hand detail.
A new snap to celebrate Prince Philip's 99th birthday has royal watchers doing a double take. Photo: PA

“This new photograph of The Duke of Edinburgh and The Queen was taken last week in the quadrangle at Windsor Castle to mark His Royal Highness’s 99th birthday tomorrow,” the snap was captioned.

Now however, eagle-eyed onlookers have picked up on a couple of details that seem to suggest the photo required a helping digital hand, and may not have been snapped in the grounds at all.

A closer inspection shows a telltale lighting discrepancy between the somewhat shadowy royals and the overexposed backdrop.

The Queen’s odd hand detail sparks photoshop suspicions

Furthermore, something is going on with the Queen’s hands that even the most loyal royal follower couldn’t help but notice.

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“Have they photoshopped the Queen's hands into the photo with Prince Philip?!” one woman wrote on Twitter. “If so, why?”

“That dark shadow around the hand makes it look like it's been cut from another photo.”

Others agreed that the detail betrayed a clumsy photoshop job.

“It seems photoshopped,” one person wrote in the comments.

“Do you need help with the photoshop guys?” one person asked.

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“This photo doesn't look natural, correct me if I am wrong,” another wrote, sparking no correction from other users.

“...Philip seems to be using a truly hectic Snapchat filter,” another pointed out.

24th November 1947  Princess Elizabeth and The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh enjoying a walk during their honeymoon at Broadlands, Romsey, Hampshire.  (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)
Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip married in 1947, celebrating 73 years of marriage this year. Photo: Getty Images

Others didn’t care about talk of Photoshop gone wrong, instead congratulating the couple on the occasion of Prince Philip’s 99th birthday.

“Lovely picture of an amazing couple...” one person wrote.

“Happy birthday Your Royal Highness,” another shared.

It seems it won’t be a fussy affair for Prince Philip however, with reports the Prince is “characteristically taciturn” about the occasion and, even without restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, didn’t want to make a fuss or have a party.

It comes after a tumultuous year for the royals, with Prince William this month expressing concern for Harry and Meghan who are now residing in LA amid furious protests after sensationally leaving their senior royal positions back in January.

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Meghan last week took advantage of her new freedom outside of the family, by sharing her heartfelt reflections on the Black Lives Matter movement in the USA as the death of George Floyd at the hands of police sparks mass protests.

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