Danish photographers are criticizing the royal house for excessively retouching the new portrait series of Crown Prince Christian, released in celebration of his 20th birthday.

The images, including one of the Crown Prince tying a tie, have sparked debate among professionals.

Petra Kleis, a photographer, observed inconsistencies in the skin texture around the Crown Prince’s eyes, noting that it appeared altered and inconsistent across different images. She described the skin as looking like marzipan, pointing out the poor quality of the retouching.

Søren Pagter, academic director of the photojournalism program at the Danish School of Media and Journalism, echoed this sentiment. He believes the editing was “too violent” and that such extensive retouching undermines the public’s ability to connect with the royal family, specifically the Crown Prince. Pagter stated that such editing removes the potential for identification that people crave.

The royal house maintains that their photos are never “manipulated,” clarifying that adjustments are sometimes made to light, colors, and contrast. However, they insist that the content of the pictures remains unchanged. The palace has declined to comment on the specific criticism regarding the Crown Prince’s portraits or the extent of any editing.

This is not the first time the royal house has faced scrutiny over photo editing. Previously, the alteration of a photo featuring the royal twins, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine, on their 13th birthday drew criticism. The royal house initially presented the image as a new photograph, but later clarified that it was “a picture was brought”, after media outlets reported that it was photoshopped from an older group picture. The twins were originally standing far apart, either side of the frame but, in the edited photograph, they are standing next to each other. The royal house has never officially addressed the previous criticism or confirmed the photoshopping of the twins’ birthday picture.