If there's one thing Kate Middleton's not hurting for these days, it's magazine-based photo scandals.
But while the duchess's topless to-do has mercifully been, so far, solely Eurocentric, this week American tabloids are getting into the game, as Star in particular is trying to cash in on Middleton mania thunder by running a cover shot of Prince William's wife with a slightly rounded belly and the headline, "It's Twins!"
The problem? The profile of Kate they used to seemingly back their pregnancy claim bears little resemblance to other actual shots taken of Kate from the same event. Photoshopping a cover? Really, Star, it's like you're not even trying.
The shot was taken of the Duchess of Cambridge while she attended a gala dinner in Singapore during the first days of her just-completed Diamond Jubilee trip of the South Pacific (back when reported baby bumps were the biggest scandal she and Will were faced with), and shows her in a slim-fitting Prabal Gurung floral dress holding the glass of water (not wine) that sparked, albeit briefly, a global bumpwatch.
The evidence that some less-than-flawless retouching took place?
Aside from the good old naked-eye technique, several overlay composites have been made of the images (this is serious business, people), and show a definite extra protruberance in the cover shot compared with the one it was taken from. Also, the heavy-handed alleged Photoshopper seems to have taken a few liberties during the process, and inadvertently erased Kate's clearly visible and rather large cocktail ring from the final image.
For some reason, they also saw fit to change the angle of her arm and the width of her hand, and removed the shoulder and wine glass of Singapore's first lady Mary Tan, to whom she was speaking in the original shot, altogether.
In any case, it's not the first time Star has fallen foul of the royal couple.
Last week, the magazine ran another "Kate's pregnant"-themed cover, pointing to the nonexistent expansion of her tiny waistline, something which caught both the eye and ire of Demi Lovato.
"So apparently Kate Middleton (William?) is pregnant because of THIS picture...Are you KIDDING ME?!!" she tweeted, linking to the magazine's cover. "Shame on you Star magazine."
Again.