Has been updated: Duchess Kate has issued a statement regarding the controversial images that her husband Prince William allegedly took last week and released on March 10th.
“Like many amateur photographers, I experiment with editing from time to time,” the royal couple posted on their Twitter/X account. “We would like to apologize for any confusion the family photo we shared yesterday may have caused. We hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother's Day.” The message was signed with a “C.” , indicating that it was sent directly from Catherine.
The statement comes after four news organizations removed images of the Duchess Kate following her unspecified “abdominal” surgery. On Monday morning, the Press Association, the British royal family's most trusted news agency, also removed the photo from its services, following the removals by Reuters, Associated Press and Agence France-Presse on Sunday night. According to the Associated Press, Pennsylvania asked Kensington Palace for an “clarification” about the photo, but reportedly did not receive a satisfactory response.
“In the absence of that clarification, we will remove the image from our imaging service,” News Image Wire reportedly said. PA is the most trusted source of official royal news. Along with the BBC, it was the first to break the news of Queen Elizabeth's death in 2022, and was the only broadcaster granted video access when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's son Prince Archie was born in 2019. It was.
The photo shows Duchess Kate (as she is unofficially known) sitting outside with her three children, while Prince William was spotted wearing a hat last week to mark British Mother's Day on Sunday. It is said that the photo was taken.
Kensington Palace staff posted this image on the royal couple's official social media pages on Sunday before publishing it to select news outlets for syndication, a typical example of images distributed by the royal family. The image was published.
But within hours, Reuters, Associated Press, and AFP all issued “takedown” notices, removing the photo from their own databases and also requiring customers who licensed the photo to remove it from their publications. he demanded.
The Associated Press said in a notice that “a source manipulated the image,” while AFP cited an “editorial issue.” Reuters said it retracted the photo following a “post-publication review.”
Even before the photo was withdrawn, it had sparked intense interest as it was her first public appearance since Christmas Day, when she attended church in Sandringham, England, with her family. .
On January 17, Kensington Palace issued a statement saying she had undergone “planned abdominal surgery” that required a further 10-day stay in hospital, but did not specify the reason for the surgery. They suggested that Duchess Kate would not resume her royal duties until after Easter or until she appeared in public. In February, Prince William attended the BAFTA Film Awards alone.
Last week, paparazzi photos surfaced of Kate and her mother in a car, with Kate in the passenger seat. A blurry photo of the duchess wearing large sunglasses did little to allay public concerns about her welfare.
Whispers that the Duchess of Cambridge would attend Trooping the Color, the annual military parade in which the royal family appears on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, were quickly quashed by the palace last week, with the Duchess Rumors spread about the cause of the princess's prolonged disappearance from public life. To strengthen.
Images published on Sunday to mark Mother's Day showed Kate in good spirits and were initially welcomed by the British press and public. However, online commentators were quick to point out a number of discrepancies, including the position of Princess Charlotte's hands and skirt and the mismatched zipper on Kate's sweater. According to British news outlets, the palace declined to comment on the photo or the photo agency's reaction.
The duchess' medical leave comes at a particularly difficult time for the British royal family, as her father-in-law, King Charles, was also recently diagnosed with cancer. He is currently undergoing treatment.
variety Kensington Palace has been contacted for comment.
