‘Release it’: Kate Middleton storm explodes as theories hit fever pitch

There’s been a furious reaction to the excuse given for the latest Kate Middleton controversy amid rampant theories about her health.

Kensington Palace’s efforts to squash rampant theories about Kate Middleton’s health have sensationally backfired, with concerns for the future Queen hitting fever pitch.

The Princess of Wales, 42, released an unprecedented statement on Monday morning, UK time, copping the blame for “editing” an official portrait released on Sunday for Mother’s Day.

The photo marked the first sighting of the Princess since her mysterious abdominal surgery in January and lengthy disappearance from the public eye, and featured Kate with her three children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

However, it only ignited ongoing conspiracies about her wellbeing – and was called out for apparent Photoshop editing before four of the biggest photo agencies issued “kill notice” orders for the image, claiming it had been “manipulated at the source [palace]”.

Kate took to social media overnight to take full responsibility for the botched editing job in a rare statement from a senior member of the royal family.

Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales with her children, alongside a version highlighting several inconsistencies in alignments after it came to light that the handout had been manipulated. Picture: Prince of Wales / KENSINGTON PALACE / AFP

“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,” Kate wrote on X.

Royal watchers and fans have reacted to the events of the past 24 hours in frenzied fashion, with UK author Omid Scobie – long thought to be a friend of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle – suggesting the palace let Kate take the fall.

“It’s fair to say that most photos released by the offices of public figures have been retouched in some way, so *if* this was an isolated incident then it would just be an unfortunate error. But with the Palace’s long history of lying, covering up, and even issuing statements on behalf of family members without their permission (cc: Prince Harry), it’s becoming increasingly difficult for the public to believe a word (and now photo) they share. Gaining that back at this point is an almost impossible task,” Scobie wrote.

Four of the world’s biggest photo agencies issued a “mandatory kill” on the portrait. Picture: Handout/Prince of Wales/Kensington Palace via Getty Images

The Princess of Wales released a statement after an official distributed image posted of her with her three children was found to be heavily edited. Picture: Instagram

Former Good Morning Britain host and royal family supporter Piers Morgan warned speculation would “get worse” unless the palace released the unedited photo, which was claimed to have been taken by Prince William.

“The Palace should release the unedited photo of Kate & the kids asap. If it’s just a small bit of harmless retouching gone wrong, nobody will care. If they don’t release the original pic, the conspiracy theories they were trying to kill, will get way worse,” Morgan wrote.

Rob Jobson, author of Our King: Charles III – The Man and the Monarch Revealed, said people “can’t really blame Kate”, speculating she had been “let down”.

“There needed to be some advisers around doing that job, making sure that in this modern world of modern communications that you cannot tamper with photographs that are being issued as official photographs,” Jobson told The Sun.

“It damages the integrity of the organisation that is issuing a photograph.”

“She’s [Kate] probably been let down, in my opinion,” he continued, adding Kate had done photo agencies a “huge favour” by shouldering the blame.

Hours after Kate released a statement, the Princess’ name began trending worldwide on X, with users reluctant to believe Kate was responsible, to claims old photos of her were superimposed onto the Mother’s Day portrait.

One user is convinced a Vogue photo of the Princess was used on the Mother’s Day portrait.

Others were in disbelief.

Another said it was “incredibly odd” for Kate to take the blame.

Many were choosing to see the more humorous side.

After the photo was released, eagle-eyed royal fans were quick to point out a number of inconsistencies with the image, including that eight-year-old Charlotte’s hand did not line up with her red jumper sleeve.

The Associated Press said the reason for deleting the photo was “at closer inspection it appears that the source has manipulated the image”.

An AP spokesman further told The Telegraph: “The photo shows an inconsistency in the alignment of Princess Charlotte’s left hand.”

AFP cited an “editorial issue” as the reason for withdrawing the photo from its systems, while Getty Images did the same for “editorial reasons”. Reuters also pulled the photo “following a post publication review”.

While photo agencies allow minor retouching, they have strict rules to note circulate heavily edited photographs.

After a two-month disappearance from the public eye, Kate was seen for the first time since her hospital operation last week, pictured in the passenger seat as her mum Carole drove her near Windsor Castle.

The last time the Princess was seen in public was Christmas Day, December 25 last year, when she and husband Prince William took their three children to a church service.

Originally published as ‘Release it’: Kate Middleton storm explodes as theories hit fever pitch