'Amateur' Kate Middleton Admits She 'Experimented With Editing' in Family Photo After Its Pulled From 4 News Agencies
March 11 2024, Published 8:00 a.m. ET
Kate Middleton attempted to put a stop to the rumors about her whereabouts on Monday, March 11, when she admitted she played around with the new photo of herself with her three kids — Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis — in honor of Mother's Day.
"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," the royal, 42, wrote via X, formerly known as Twitter.
The tweet come after leading photo agencies — Reuters, the Associated Press, Getty and AFP — all pulled the photograph after claiming it had been altered. "At closer inspection, it appears that the source has manipulated the image," a "kill notification" reportedly released by AP read.
In the snapshot, people though Charlotte's hand looked off, in addition to the mom-of-three not wearing her wedding ring and her arms appearing unusually long.
Other royal fans also weighed in, claiming the snapshot was doctored.
"That looks like an AI photo ... not one for the theories either but come on, that’s not a real photo," one critic commented, while another added: "With all that money they could do a better photoshop."
"Are the leaves and green grass this time of year in England?" a third user asked about the time of year in the U.K. while another said, "I mean ... This could had been taken a while ago lmao they're just trying to do damage control."
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On March 10, she wrote, "Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months. Wishing everyone a Happy Mother’s Day," which was her first message since she underwent abdominal surgery in January.
Due to Kate's absence from the public eye, people have been wondering what really happened.
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OK! previously reported royal commentator Jack Royston urged Prince William to share some sort of update with the public.
"The public have a completely different perspective on the concept of medical privacy compared to the palace one," Royston said on the "Royal Report" podcast. "So, for the palace, respecting Kate's privacy means leaving her to her own devices and giving her as long as the doctors suggest she needs and that's the end of it."
"To the public, letting Kate have the time off was respecting her privacy," he continued. "I think they do genuinely have some sympathy for the palace not wanting to go into too much detail about the specifics of her diagnosis. But most ordinary people just see no reason why the royals wouldn't want to release a picture of her."