Pressure Mounts on Palace to Release Kate Middleton's Unedited Mother's Day Pic to 'Regain Public’s Trust' 

Kate Middleton is in the hot seat after the Princess of Wales returned to Instagram with a poorly photoshopped family photo. The mom-of-three took a step back from the spotlight after her abdominal surgery, and she admitted that her Instagram scandal was her fault.

As Kate takes the fall for the blunder, critics continue to wonder how the Princess of Wales was able to share a family snapshot without a member of her team noticing the mishap in the first place.

“Kate’s statement answers no questions. We can all see the photo has been edited,” anti-monarchist Graham Smith told an outlet. "The question is why? Why haven’t they released the original photo? A statement parsed via the press office of Prince William which says nothing and explains nothing shows a general disregard for the public."

The British public has been curious about Kate's whereabouts after they realized Prince William was attending engagements without his wife, and the palace continues to be extremely protective of her privacy.

Journalist Michael Cole shared that The Firm's approach to the princess' mistake will impact the world's perception of The Crown.

“Kensington Palace must now come up with a full and plausible explanation of how and why this cack-handed attempt at media manipulation came about,” Cole explained. “Otherwise, there is a danger of permanent damage to the credibility of the royal family.”

Despite the controversy surrounding Kate, she acknowledged fans' concerns on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“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,” she wrote.

OK! previously reported an insider acknowledged that Kate's team is aware of civilians' demands to know about the brunette beauty's whereabouts and her condition.

"The palace will be under increasing pressure today to explain the situation," a source told an outlet.

"On one hand it (Kensington Palace) has made a public statement about the 'madness of social media' and on the other, they have added to the issue by directly issuing what appears to be an edited image," the insider continued.

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The picture was initially shared with news agencies, but several decided to "kill" it due to "manipulation."

“Like other news agencies, PA Media issued the handout image provided by Kensington Palace of the Princess of Wales and her children in good faith yesterday," a spokesperson for the U.K.’s national news agency said.

“We became aware of concerns about the image and we carried a report about it last night, and made clear that we were seeking urgent clarification about the image from Kensington Palace. In the absence of that clarification, we are killing the image from our picture service," they added.

Christopher Andersen predicted that Kate's decision to be secretive about her operation would only spread more rumors about her health.

"She was trying to sneak out of Windsor with her mother and was clearly not pleased that they had been spotted by a photographer," Andersen told an outlet. "This cloak-and-dagger stuff is only going to fuel more speculation about what's really going on with Kate and with her father-in-law, King Charles."

Smith spoke to Daily Mail.