Adding fuel to the royal rumors, Kate Middleton issues an apology for her recent now controversial family photo.
Within hours of Middleton posting the photograph, which features her with her three children Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, on the Prince and Princess of Wales’ Instagram account, many media outlets accused Kensington Palace officials of manipulating it.
Multiple photo agencies, including the Associated Press and Reuters, issued a “kill notification” and pulled the photo over editorial concerns.
The Associated Press spoke out about the removal by stating, “It appears that the source has manipulated the image.”
Reuters also stated the photo was withdrawn after a “post-publication review.”
Meanwhile, Kate Middleton took to the Prince and Princess of Wales’ Instagram Stories to post an apology for the image.
“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.”
The image is the first official photograph that Kate Middle has released since she was last publicly seen on Christmas Day. The Princess of Wales had abdominal surgery in January and has remained out of the public eye while recovering.
Kensington Palace Disputed Claim Kate Middleton Was in a Coma Following Abdominal Surgery
Following her abdominal surgery in mid-January, journalist Concha Calleja claimed on Fiesta that Kate Middleton was placed in a coma after she experienced complications after her abdominal surgery.
“The doctors had to take drastic decisions at that moment because of the complications that arose,” Calleja claimed, per The Times.
“The decision was to put her in an induced coma. They had to intubate her. There were serious complications that they didn’t expect because the operations went well, but the postoperative period didn’t go so well.”
Calleja further claimed that Kate Middleton’s life was in “great danger” while recovering. There was also “practically an entire hospital” set up in the royal’s home.
However, a palace course told The Times that Calleja’s claims are “total” nonsense. “No attempt was made by that journalist to fact-check anything that she said with anyone in the household. It’s fundamentally, totally made-up, and I’ll use polite English here: it’s absolutely not the case.”
According to Kensington Palace, the planned surgery took place on Jan. 16 at The London Clinic. Approximately 13 days into her recovery, Kate Middleton was able to return home to Windsor to continue the process. The Palace stated that Middleton isn’t expected to return to royal duty until after Easter.
“The Princess of Wales appreciates the interest this statement will generate,” the Palace shared in a statement. “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.”