Kate Middleton Breaks Silence on the Mother’s Day Photo Pulled by Agencies, Confirming She Edited It

Kensington Palace has responded to photo agencies, including the Associated Press and Getty Images, pulling the new photo they released of Kate Middleton and her children yesterday for Mother’s Day in the U.K. Kate herself issued a statement on her shared X, formerly known as Twitter, account with Prince William.

While William took the photo of the family, Kate shared that she did edit it and apologized for the controversy. “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” she shared. “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.” She signed off the statement with “C” for Catherine, her full name. The Palace did not release the original unedited photo with the statement.

The Associated Press, Getty Images, AFP, and Reuters removed the photo yesterday afternoon, in an extraordinarily rare move. The AP asked outlets using its reporting to “kill” the photo. They alleged that “at closer inspection, it appears that the source has manipulated the image. No replacement photo has been sent.”

The photo generated a lot of attention as it is the first clear look at Kate since she had planned abdominal surgery in January. The Palace has addressed conspiracy theories since then about her whereabouts, as Kate has been recovering from the procedure out of the public eye.

A spokesperson for Kate told Us Weekly in a statement on February 29, “Kensington Palace made it clear in January the timelines of the princess’ recovery and we’d only be providing significant updates. That guidance stands.” They added that Kate is continuing to do “well.”

The Palace shared that Kate received her abdominal surgery on January 16 in an announcement posted a day later.

The procedure “was successful, and it is expected that she will remain in hospital for ten to fourteen days, before returning home to continue her recovery,” they wrote. “Based on the current medical advice, she is unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter [March 31, 2024].

“The Princess of Wales appreciates the interest this statement will generate. She hopes that the public will understand her desire to maintain as much normality for her children as possible; and her wish that her personal medical information remains private. Kensington Palace will, therefore, only provide updates on Her Royal Highness’ progress when there is significant new information to share.

“The Princess of Wales wishes to apologize to all those concerned for the fact that she has to postpone her upcoming engagements. She looks forward to reinstating as many as possible, as soon as possible.”

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