We edit our kids’ photos – so why can’t Kate? The mothers who proudly admit that they touch up their children’s faces and edit the backgrounds to make their lives look more perfect. So do you agree with them?

Seda Pir looks admiringly at the photo of her three-year-old daughter Ella on her smartphone.

People often say that they are alike, and that she wouldn’t change anything about her precious girl. Except for her runny nose, spotty upper body and flushed cheeks.

With a few clicks of Seda’s digital editing software, all of Ella’s ‘imperfections’ are gone and the image is ready for social media.

It’s so hard to take a nice photo because kids are so active and can’t sit still,” Seda, 39, explains. ‘Rather than intervening in the moment, when she’s enjoying herself by wiping her nose or changing her top, it’s just so easy to digitally erase them afterwards. I think every mother does it.’

When the Princess of Wales was criticized last week for ‘doctoring’ a Mother’s Day photo she shared on Instagram, the Mail was flooded with letters from furious mothers in her defence.

Last year, a study from the Journal of Media Psychology found that 64 percent of us edit our images before posting them online. Another study found that of all the photos women share, family photos are the ones they are most likely to edit.

However, some argue that ‘perfecting’ children’s images can lead to them growing up believing that their natural appearance is not good enough, which can cause feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem.

While removing stains from clothing may be harmless enough, altering the child’s face or body may be considered less acceptable.

So what inspires a mom to change her family snaps?

Seda, a full-time mother living in Hampshire, made a living as a fashion influencer, so admits altering images is second nature to her. She has over 10,000 photos of herself and her daughter on her phone, and even before she takes a photo, she will make the shot as flattering as possible.

“My favorite hacks include using a ring light [a circular bright white bulb]. It removes my wrinkles and any skin blemishes on Ella’s skin tone.

‘To clean up the image afterwards, FaceTune is my go-to tool. It usually only takes two or three minutes, so why not?

“When I look back at the photos, I want to remember how cute and happy she was, instead of my attention being drawn to little flaws.”

But would she continue editing images of Ella when she gets old enough to understand that her mother edits her appearance this way?

“When Ella is old enough to make her own decisions, I will probably still edit family photos, but I would check with her,” she says. “There will always be imperfections or problems that I don’t want to be the focus of the photo.”

But while some people may frown on her actions, Seda knows that if she doesn’t edit the photos, she still risks criticism.

‘I’ve had some unkind comments; one mom asked me why Ella has “droopy eyes,” and another mom wanted to know why I posted a photo with stains on Ella’s clothes.

‘Of course I blocked these people, but such unfriendliness gets under your skin.

‘I would never go so far as to change my daughter’s actual characteristics. But I find myself getting caught up, afraid that if I put up a picture of Ella with a runny nose, I’ll be told I’m a bad mother because I didn’t use a tissue before taking the picture?’

That is why Seda has every sympathy for the Princess of Wales. ‘If I feel like I’m being judged and put under the microscope, how on earth is Kate supposed to feel when the eyes of the world are on her and her children?

‘She’s just a mother like all of us, with three children who are never allowed to sit still. Their clothes will never be perfect and neither will hers. It’s no wonder she wanted to adjust the images here and there.

As long as they aren’t completely different, a little editing is fine these days. Us moms all do it, so why on earth can’t Kate?’

Supporter Sadie McGrath, 34, is another mother who strongly supports our future queen.

The mother-of-four – who lives in Birmingham with her 15-year-old daughter, 12-year-old son and younger daughters, Sofia, four, and Iona, two – started digitally altering her images two years ago. ‘When I had Iona, I became a representative of a company that makes environmentally friendly cloth diapers. I started posting pictures of her wearing them on Instagram and got a discount if my pictures led to sales.

‘Of course I wanted my photos to be the best they could be, so I started looking at what other mums were doing online. I soon started experimenting with using editing tools.

‘I have a multitude of apps on my phone, including Lightroom and Photoroom. The basic packages are free and are all I need for the type of editing I do.

‘I soon realized that I enjoyed photoshopping the children’s photos to make them look nicer.

‘My favorite thing to do is take a photo of my girls at home, and then edit each photo to make it look like they are somewhere much more exciting or glamorous.

‘Why a boring photo of Sofia on the stairs, or Iona in our lounge in a dreary old age, when they could be sitting in an ambitious luxury kitchen with the sun streaming in, or next to a lavish Christmas tree?

‘I imagine most people would assume I took the photos in my own home. I don’t think they’d be jealous of the fancy kitchen backdrop, but you never know.’

It is a process that can be completed in just 20 minutes.

“Family and friends post photos with messy backgrounds and their kids captured just like they do on Facebook, and I’m the last person to judge anyone.

‘But you just have to have striking images on Instagram; there’s no room for a pile of laundry in the background, as much as that is the reality for most of us moms.”

It’s not just the background that gets a touch of glossy shine, though. Sadie’s children also get a shine.

‘Sofia has eczema so I’m going to digitally erase it from her skin, or if there’s a blob of food on her upper body, I’m going to take it off. I also gave my eldest daughter a smile and made myself look slimmer.

‘The girls enjoy being photographed. Sofia understands that I am manipulating the images, and she will say ‘wow’ when I show her what I have done.

‘And the responses I get are intoxicating, like “beautiful photos” and “she’s cute.” As indulgent as it sounds, nice compliments like that make it all worth it.”

It explains why Sadie, who has nearly 28,000 images on her phone, goes to such lengths to get the “perfect” photo.

‘When we are at home, I usually take pictures while the children are reading; when we’re out, we’ll go to a local park. I always check the weather! Spring is ideal with the long grass, trees and flowers in bloom. It means I don’t have to edit the background.

‘My sister asks me to take pictures of her children and if I can adjust her images for her too.’

As for Sadie’s older children, she admits that they are “harder to photograph now; they don’t really want their picture taken.” But that doesn’t stop her from “also changing the light or color in images of it.”

This makes perfect sense to Agatha Wrzesinska, 34, a stay-at-home mother living in Edinburgh with her four children, Nico, 13; David, ten; Mia, two and Leo, five months.

She has been interested in photography since her early twenties and mainly uses a second-hand Canon RP camera, which cost her £700 (a £300 Canon PowerShot G12 is the Princess of Wales’s camera of choice).

‘Like the Princess of Wales, I enjoy capturing those precious moments of family life in my spare time. So many experiences are blink-and-you’ll-miss-it, and our memories can only hold so much. I like to play with colors and make my photos as attractive as possible. For me it is an outlet for creative expression.

On a more practical level, I can remove all unwanted distractions from photos: from red eyes to ugly objects in the background.

‘People usually don’t notice; we are all so used to manipulated images that it is the norm these days. It’s been happening in the advertising world for decades: why shouldn’t we moms do the same?

‘I use Lightroom to smooth out discolored skin patches on my children’s faces. Leo has eczema and I tend to just get rid of it. I want my children to look their best.

‘There is no need for me to defend my actions. I just remove the dry skin from my child’s face or clear up the background. It’s hardly a criminal offense, right?’

As for the issue of posting a photo online that hasn’t been digitally enhanced in some way, it’s a firm ‘no’ from Agatha.

“It’s rare that you capture an image that can’t be improved,” she says. “In a heartbeat, I’d say 99 percent of my photos of my family have been digitally manipulated in some way.

‘Can you blame us mothers for sprinkling a little bit of digital fairy dust on our loved ones? If it makes the images better, you’d be crazy not to do that.’