As previosly reported earlier today, Kensington Palace’s latest move has not done much to quell the rumors surrounding Kate Middelton and her recovery from the “planned abdominal procedure” she underwent in January.

In celebration of Mother’s Day in the UK over the weekend, the palace released an image of the Princess of Wales – the first official photograph of her in 76 days – smiling alongside her three children Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, five.

According to strange reports a number of photo and news agencies – including the Associated Press and Getty Images – have pulled the image following speculation that it may be fake.

As per sources, multiple photo agencies have taken the bold step of pulling the photo in question, while AP are said to have handed down a kill notification to journalists and outlets the world over, stating that they have reason to believe the photo may have been manipulated.

Part of AP’s message read: “At closer inspection, it appears that the source has manipulated the image. No replacement image will be sent. Please remove it from all platforms, including social, where it may still be visible.”

The picture in question seems perfectly normal at first, however, once armed with the suspicion that not all is as it seems, a number of worrying details are reportedly evident, including an issue with Princess Charlotte’s sleeve cuff, as well as a the zipper on the lefthand side of Kate’s jacket.

Now, Kate herself has broken her silence on the image, even offering an apology for the shoddy editing.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the Duchess of Cornwall wrote that she had been the person who doctored the image, saying (via the New York Post): “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing.” She continued: “I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused.”

The princess then ended by stating: “I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day” and signed off casually with “C,” for her first name, Catherine.

Naturally, people on the internet have had their opinions on the matter, with one person writing: “I wasn’t in on this whole conspiracy about Kate Middleton missing and the royals covering it up until they dropped this obviously fake photo today to appease public concern.”

They continued: “I do photography, and work with post processing/editing a lot … here are just a few unexplainable issues,” adding screenshots of the areas they believe had been edited.

What do you think about this strange drama as it unfolds? Is it just harmless gossip or do you believe it’s something more sinister? Let us know in the comments!