The former member of the royal household said that he “genuinely mistook” the picture to be genuine

Grant Harrold; Kate Middleton and Prince William at the 2026 EE BAFTA Awards at The Royal Festival Hall on February 22, 2026 in London.Credit : The Royal Butler/X; Samir Hussein/WireImage

A former royal butler to King Charles is expressing his regrets after circulating a photo of Prince William and Kate Middleton that was allegedly generated by AI.

On May 26, Grant Harrold released a message in response to backlash from him posting what appeared to be a previously unseen throwback picture of a young Prince William and Princess Kate. The photo shared to Harrold’s Instagram on May 23 depicted Kate sitting on William’s lap, as they wrapped their arms around one another.

“This wonderful photo of the Prince and Princess of Wales was taken when I first met them back in 2004. A true royal love story,” he captioned the snap.

Prince William with Kate Middleton after his graduation ceremony at RAF Cranwell on April 11, 2008 in Cranwell, England.Pool/Anwar Hussein Collection/WireImage

However, Harrold’s social media followers wondered in the comments section if the image was authentic or AI-generated. On Tuesday, he responded in a lengthy statement, explaining that he “genuinely mistook” the picture to be genuine.

“It has come to my attention that the authenticity of a recent image I shared has been questioned to be AI. I love sharing my experiences and memories of working with the royal family, and I strive for my content to be a reflection of the great years I spent as part of the household,” Harrold began the statement shared to his Instagram Stories.

“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 continued. “I genuinely mistook this to be an authentic image of the pair. On seeing it, it made me smile, and I wanted to share this joy with you.”

Grant Harrold’s Instagram Stories on May 27, 2026.The Royal Butler/Instagram

“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. “Moving forward, I will be more cautious of the content I choose to share with my followers and will endeavor to ensure my platform remains an authentic and positive space that celebrates the royal family.”

The former royal employee signed the slide “Grant Harrold, The Royal Butler,” which is his media branding and inspired the title of his 2025 book, The Royal Butler: My Remarkable Life in Royal Service.

Grant Harrold.The Royal butler/X

Grant Harrold worked as a butler to the future King Charles from 2004 to 2011 at Highgrove House, his beloved home in the countryside.

His website says that his duties included butlering for the future King Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince William, Princess Kate and Prince Harry, in addition to 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.

At the time, a friend of the pair confirmed to PEOPLE that their romance had “been going on for a bit. She is his girlfriend.”

SOURCE: https://people.com/royal-butler-backtracks-after-posting-suspected-ai-photo-kate-middleton-prince-william-11984449