Kate, Princess of Wales, apologizes for ‘confusion’ over pulled photo

Kate, Princess of Wales, issued an apology Monday after the first photo showing her since her abdominal surgery in January was retracted by news agencies once they discovered it had been edited.

“Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” the princess wrote from the official Kensington Palace account on X, formerly Twitter.

“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 added.

The apology came after The Associated Press and other news agencies pulled the photo, ordering its removal from all platforms.

The AP initially published the photo but later retracted the image “because at closer inspection, it appeared the source had manipulated the image in a way that did not meet AP’s photo standards,” according to the news service.

The AP pointed to an “inconsistency in the alignment of Princess Charlotte’s left hand” in describing the apparent manipulation.

The photo, released by Kensington Palace on Sunday, featured the princess sitting in a chair surrounded by her three children. It was credited to Prince William of Wales and was reported to have been taken in Windsor earlier in the week.

The photo marked the first time the public got to see the princess since she had abdominal surgery in January. Her absence from public appearances has led to far-fetched conspiracy theories about her whereabouts and provoked concerns about her wellbeing.