Kate Middleton breaks silence on ‘manipulated’ Mother’s Day photo row

The Princess of Wales claims she was the one who edited Mother’s Day post

Kate Middleton has broken her silence on the row surrounding a photo issued by the royal family on Mother’s Day.

The Princess of Wales has personally apologised for confusion over the family photograph issued by Kensington Palace saying: “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing.”

She added: “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 post with her initial: “C”.

Kensington Palace gave the picture credit to Prince William but internet sleuths soon noticed inconsistencies that appeared to show it had been digitally altered.

Royal sources said the Princess of Wales made “minor adjustments” (Prince of Wales/Kensington Palace/PA Wire)

The Princess of Wales’ statement on Monday came with the Palace under pressure to answer questions about whether the first picture of Kate – with children George, Charlotte and Louis - after her abdominal surgery in January has been photoshopped.

Six of the world’s biggest news agencies have now pulled the picture from circulation after concerns were raised about image manipulation.

Speculation on social media has been widespread, with members of the public wondering why Kate had not made any public appearances since December, and expressing concern for her health.

“Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months,” she said.

At first glance the photograph may appear normal, however social media users were quick to point out some key giveaways that the picture may have been altered.

Several issues have been spotted of Kate’s Mother’s Day that have led to concerns of manipulation (Kensington Palace / PA)

Most glaring is Princess Charlotte’s left-hand sleeve, which appears to partially dissolve into nothing. Kate’s right hand also appears to be unusually blurred, while a wall near Louis’ leg appears to disconnect.

Royal sources told the Press Association the Princess of Wales made “minor adjustments” and that Kate and the Prince of Wales wanted to offer an informal picture of the family together for Mother’s Day.

“The Wales family spent Mother’s Day together and had a wonderful day,” the source added.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4 Today’s programme on Monday royal photographer Ian Lloyd said manipulation of royal photographs was common, but the decision to pull it was “very rare”.

Mr Lloyd added: “Someone at Kensington Palace is not vey good at Photoshop.”

Kate’s statement was issued moments after PA news agency said it would be withdrawing the image from its picture service.

The Princess of Wales, Princess Charlotte, Prince George, the Prince of Wales, Prince Louis and Mia Tindall attending the Christmas Day morning church service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk in what was Kate’s last verified public appearance before her recent break from duties (Joe Giddens/PA) (PA Wire)

A spokesperson for the UK’s national news agency said: “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.

“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.”

Graham Smith, of the anti-monarchy group Republic, earlier said: “The manipulation of an image that the palace says was taken by William is extraordinary.

“If true it is a deliberate attempt to deceive the public. “This kind of dystopian behaviour you might expect from Soviet Russia, not modern Britain.

“The monarchy has always sought to manipulate and manage its image, but if they have tried to fake a photograph to silence online conspiracy theories, that is disgraceful.”

Kate was last seen in public on Christmas Day when she joined other members of the Royal Family for the annual church service and walk.