Kate Middleton, Britain’s Princess of Wales, issued an apology on social media today for “any confusion” caused by an edited photograph which had been issued by her office Kensington Palace yesterday.
Several leading news organisations including Reuters withdrew the picture of Kate posing with her three children yesterday after post-publication analysis showed it did not meet their editorial standards.
In a post on X, Kate wrote: “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day. C”
Kensington Palace said it would not be reissuing the original unedited photograph.
In the picture a smiling Kate was shown posing with her children Princes George and Louis and Princess Charlotte in Windsor, where the family live.
Kensington Palace said the photo had been taken by her husband Prince William last week.
News agencies including Getty, Reuters, the Associated Press, AFP and PA later withdrew the photograph.
Reuters picture editors said part of the sleeve of Kate’s daughter’s cardigan did not line up properly, suggesting that the image had been altered.
A royal source said she had wanted to post an informal picture of her family to mark Mother’s Day yesterday and had made minor adjustments.
Read more: What appears to have been manipulated in the Princess Kate image?
The picture had already attracted huge media attention as it was the first official photograph of Kate since she spent two weeks in hospital after undergoing abdominal surgery in January for a non-cancerous but unspecified condition.
Although her office said she would not return to public duties until after Easter and that she was recovering well, her absence has led to intense speculation about her health on social media in recent weeks.
“Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months,” Kate wrote in a message which accompanied yesterday’s picture.
Royal commentator Peter Hunt said: “This is damaging for the royals. They knew there would be intense interest in any picture they released of Kate.
“Their challenge is that people will now question whether they can be trusted and believed when they next issue a health update.”
The future queen was last photographed in public during a Christmas Day walk in Sandringham, eastern England.
Photos published by TMZ earlier in March showed Kate wearing sunglasses while being driven in a car, with the celebrity news site saying they were taken near Windsor Castle.
The sighting came after a flurry of conspiracy theories on social media over the famously hard-working and dutiful princess’s absence from the spotlight.
The speculation came despite Kensington Palace clearly saying at the time of her surgery that she would be “unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter”.
Kate’s hospitalisation came almost simultaneously with the announcement that William’s father, King Charles, had been admitted for surgery for a benign prostate condition and subsequently diagnosed with an unrelated cancer.
Charles, 75, visited his daughter-in-law’s bedside after being admitted himself on 26 January.
The king withdrew from public duties during his treatment, though he attended church services and held his weekly audience with the British prime minister.
