Kate Middleton's childhood photo was a smart PR move — and you probably didn't even notice

• Kensington Palace shared a rare childhood photograph of Kate Middleton on Monday.
• The photo, taken of Kate in 1983, is drawing comparisons to her youngest son, Prince Louis.

Kate Middleton is probably more excited for a new year than most people.

The opportunity for a fresh start would be more than welcomed, given how much of a roller coaster the past few weeks have been for the Princess of Wales.

First, there was the disastrous "error" in the Dutch version of Omid Scobie's "Endgame," in which she and King Charles were named as the royals said to have made racially insensitive comments about Prince Archie's skin tone before he was born.

Then there was the release of the Waleses' Christmas card, which was met with lukewarm reactions and jokes about a possible Photoshop fail. And who could forget the final episodes of "The Crown," which portray Kate and her mother, Carole Middleton, as having orchestrated her relationship with Prince William?

Throughout it all, Kate has kept to the signature royal PR strategy of staying silent in times of crisis.

But on closer inspection, that might not be entirely true.

On Monday, Kensington Palace released a photograph of Kate as a child, taken during Christmastime in 1983. The coverage and reactions to the photo have so far been positive, with people saying she's the spitting image of her and William's youngest son, Prince Louis.

Business Insider spoke to royal experts about how a seemingly innocuous decision to share a sweet childhood photo could be a subtle PR move in response to recent hits to Kate's reputation.

Kate's childhood photo is likely a calculated correction to recent PR fails

When Kate and William shared their 2023 Christmas card, outlets like the Daily Mail and Page Six were quick to pick up on what appeared to be a Photoshop fail that made it look as though Louis was a missing finger.

But, according to royal watcher Kristen Meinzer, that isn't the only aspect of the Christmas card that's so unsettling.

Meinzer said the most obvious issue with the Christmas photo is that it's attempting to make the family look relatable — and, according to her, it completely misses the mark.

"There's an uncanny valley aspect to this family photo. It looks a little bit almost robotic and not human," she said. "The background looks like they went to a mall portrait studio and chose one of three backgrounds."

Her views were echoed by Clare McHugh, a royal historian and the author of the upcoming novel "The Romanov Brides."

"It was too much of a glamour shot," McHugh said.

Meanwhile, the experts said, the latest photo of Kate is a complete U-turn — and they believe there are calculated machinations behind that.

"I don't think they release any image without putting a lot of thought into it," Meinzer said.

"They take very good social media and image positioning advice now," McHugh said, adding that "it isn't a coincidence" that Kate shared a photo that's "completely at odds" with the more polished Christmas card.

By contrast, Kate's childhood photo is a much "warmer" image, McHugh said, explaining that it also serves as a timely reminder to the public of Kate's relatively normal upbringing, having been born into an upper-middle-class family by British standards.

Meinzer agreed, saying: "It looks like a photo that was on a roll of film that was dropped off at the pharmacy and developed and then picked up four days later. It's clearly not an edited photo in the sense it's not from the Photoshop era."

Eric Schiffer, a crisis and celebrity PR expert, echoed the others, saying that if Kate was his client, sharing an image that evokes innocence would've been part of his communications strategy following her recent challenges.

"We're communicating innocence, an image of a child that's relatable and allows people's instincts that are protective of children to go into play," he said.

The photo drew comparisons to her son, Prince Louis

According to Schiffer, it doesn't hurt that Kate's childhood photo is receiving comparisons to Louis, given how widely beloved the young prince is.

The "unconscious" connection to Louis serves to "distract from the recent noise that is affecting her reputation in the short run," he said.

Louis, 5, is still at an age where he has been seen and photographed having authentic reactions at royal events, from Trooping the Colour to King Charles' coronation.

"In a lot of ways, he's expressing what all of us would feel like," Meinzer said. "He is all of us in a lot of these situations, like, 'Louis, we feel you.'"

For someone like Kate, who McHugh said has the Achilles heel of presenting as a "tight person," reminding people of Louis — whether intentionally or not — during a particularly rough PR cycle doesn't hurt in the slightest.

Ultimately, by sharing content the public can relate to, Schiffer said Kate likely will escape her latest PR fumbles unscathed.

"She's in good hands with Buckingham Palace," Schiffer told BI.

"There's a decaying factor," he added, explaining that the racism allegations that resurfaced in "Endgame" will become "old news after a period of time."

Many would like to see Kate speak out about the controversies, but that's unlikely to happen

Whether it hurts her image or not, some would like to see Kate be more vocal, especially when it comes to the claims in "Endgame."

As BI's Mikhaila Friel previously reported, royal commentator Jack Royston said Kate and Charles' decision to keep to the "Never complain, never explain" royal motto on the recent racism allegations is a mistake.

Royston, Newsweek's chief royal correspondent, said Kate and Charles are running out of time to address the conversation while the British public is receptive to hearing their side.

"The most likely outcome will be that they do nothing, but I think that's a mistake," he said. "I do also think people of color in Britain and countries around the world that count Charles as their king have a right to know what really happened."

Representatives for Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace have declined BI's requests for comment on the initial version of "Endgame" in the Netherlands, and they did not respond to previous requests for comment on Charles and Kate's continued silence on the racism allegations.