Kate Middleton apologises for manipulated family photo: ‘Was experimenting with editing…’

The Princess of Wales has apologized after an edited family photo of the British Royal family went viral. Catherine — known formerly as Kate Middleton — has sparked countless rumours after remaining absent from the public eye for nearly two months. The British royal underwent abdominal surgery in early January and has not been seen has not been seen in public since attending a Christmas Day church service.

“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,” explained a Twitter post from Kensington Palace.

The Mother's Day photo was shared over the weekend by their official handle and showed the Princess of Wales posing with her three children. Closer examination however showed that Charlotte's left hand was misaligned with the sleeve of her cardigan. Eagle eyed netizens also flagged several other errors with the image amid growing buzz about Middleton's whereabouts. 

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The image was eventually pulled by wire agencies such as AFP, Getty, the Associated Press and Reuters. An advisory from AP said that ‘no replacement photo will be sent’ after a closer inspection suggested that the “source has manipulated the image”.

Meanwhile the British Defence Ministry made waves last week after announcing that the Princess of Wales would attend the Trooping the Color ceremony in June. While it drew attention for being her first major official duty since undergoing surgery, the declaration was apparently made before consulting palace officials. Kensington Palace — the ultimately authority that will announce and confirm the royals’ attendance at events — has released no update about any scheduled public events.

(With inputs from agencies)