Prince George is an adorable baby—but will his chubby cheeks sell magazines?
Prince William and Kate Middleton's 9-month-old cutie is featured on the May 5 cover of Us Weekly. The adorable photo was taken during an Apr. 20 visit to Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia. According to The New York Post's Page Six, however, the weekly magazine might have airbrushed the future King of England's appearance. "They enhanced gorgeous George with emerald green eyes, rosier cheeks and stronger strawberry-blond-tinged hair and brows," editor Emily Smith alleged Thursday night. "The already adorable prince appears in multiple photos inside with darker brown eyes and paler cheeks."
Not so, says Us Weekly. "The original image used for the Prince George cover was dark and bluish in tone and needed to be given an overall color shift for printing purposes," a rep for the magazine tells E! News in a statement. "By no means did we go in and alter the color of his eyes or cheeks in this process."
Photo controversy aside, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's son was in good spirits at the zoo. When the park's director handed him a stuffed bilby, he threw it on the ground. Moments earlier, he squealed with delighted when he saw the real marsupial. "He's trying to grab his ear!" Middleton said.
As the duke soothed George with a kiss on the forehead, he quipped, "If he gets it, he'll never let go!"
It wasn't just Us Weekly that edited a photo of the world's most famous baby: for its May 5 issue, OK! appeared to mirror an image from George's Apr. 9 playdate at Government House in Wellington, New Zealand. Again, this is common in the magazine industry in order to make covers pop on stands.
OK! did not immediately return E! News' request for comment.
During the playdate, local mom Ingrid Alve told E! News that George "seemed very excited to be with all the children and the toys." George even played with her daughter, Eden, for "around 15 minutes."
The Cambridges wrapped up their 19-day tour Friday and headed back to England. "The tour of New Zealand and Australia has been an incredible experience for both The Duke and Duchess and the couple really have enjoyed it immensely," a Kensington Palace spokesperson told E! News in a statement. "We always said this would be an opportunity for the Duke to introduce both countries to the Duchess and Prince George and the couple have been bowled over by the extraordinarily warm welcome shown to them as a family by people everywhere they went."
Did Page Six make a mountain out of a molehill? Sound off in the comments below.