Kate Middleton issues personal 'apology' over Mother's Day picture 'editing'

The Princess of Wales has issued a personal "apology" over the "editing" of the Mother’s Day picture featuring her and her three children.

A day after sharing a special family photograph of her with Prince George, Charlotte and Louis in honour of Mother’s Day, Kate has taken to social media to issue a personal “apology”. The Princess of Wales posted her second public message of 2024 on her and Prince William’s official Instagram account and apologised for any "editing" of the image.

"Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” she wrote. “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 photo posted on Mother’s Day featured Kate sitting down, surrounded by her three children and was taken by the Prince of Wales himself. This was the first official image to be shared of the Princess since she underwent surgery in January and following its release several UK picture services went on to withdraw the image over concerns about it possibly being edited.

As reported by the BBC, multiple photo agencies had apparently removed the Wales's Mother’s Day photo after becoming worried that it had been “manipulated” in some way. The Princess of Wales’s response to these concerns explains this and her commitment to clearing up “any confusion” personally is hugely significant too.

Kate underwent “successful” abdominal surgery in January and Kensington Palace previously confirmed that she would be “unlikely” to resume public-facing engagements until after Easter at the end of March.

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Whilst she has been continuing her recovery at home the Princess of Wales hasn’t been seen in public and this new message signed off with her “C” initial is only the second of its kind to be posted since 2023.

The first of this year was the Mother’s Day message alongside this family photo in which Kate expressed her gratitude for the support she’s received as she recovers.

“Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months. Wishing everyone a Happy Mother’s Day. C,“ she wrote.

The Prince and Princess of Wales have regularly shared special family snaps to mark certain occasions and last year it was taken by Matt Porteous and saw her sitting happily in a tree, with Prince George, Charlotte and Louis perched in the branches around her.

Mother’s Day is one of those occasions where - understandably given she’s in the pictures - “amateur photographer” Kate isn’t behind the camera. However, Matt Porteous has previously spoken about Kate’s skills and told Hello! that she is an “amazing photographer” and that they’ve “both shared tips” on location.  

"Catherine has an amazing eye for photos so will always point us in the right direction for light and backdrops,” Matt explained and elsewhere in the interview he disclosed that she also “has an incredible eye for style, she knows what will look best in these scenes which makes [his] life easy."

It’s possible that fans will be treated to more of the Princess of Wales’s own photographs of her family later on this year, in honour of occasions like Father’s Day or her children’s birthdays.