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A former royal butler to King Charles, Grant Harrold, has broken his silence after posting a photo of the Prince and Princess of Wales, which was AI-generated.
On Tuesday, May 26, Harrold shared a lengthy message on his Instagram after sparking fury and concern linked to the unseen picture of a young William and Kate.
The photo shared on Harrold's Instagram on May 23 showed Kate sitting on the Prince's lap, as they had their arms wrapped around each other.
Following intense backlash, the former royal butler turned to his Instagram Stories, noting, "It has come to my attention that the authenticity of a recent image I shared has been questioned to be AI."
"I did not take or own the image of William and Kate that I posted. 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.
Harrold revealed that he was not aware that the photo was AI-generated, penning, "On seeing it, it made me smile, and I wanted to share this joy with you."
"While I may be adept at telling my dinner knife from my butter knife, AI, as I'm sure you can all agree, can be harder to detect," he wrote.
Concluding his explanation, Harrold said, "Moving forward, I will be more cautious of the content I choose to share with my followers and will endeavour to ensure my platform remains an authentic and positive space that celebrates the royal family."
Grant Harrold worked as a butler to Charles from 2004 to 2011 at Highgrove House.
His website says that his duties included butlering Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince William, Princess Kate and Prince Harry, while also occasionally attending to the late Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip.
Harrold entered royal service in 2004, the year that William and Kate took their relationship public when they were photographed skiing together in Switzerland.
