'It Does Pose a Question': Kate Middleton Photo 'Was Meant to Reassure Us But Has Done the Opposite'

The Sunday, March 10, photograph Kate, Princess of Wales, released has caused a media sensation due to its "heavily edited" distortions, which the princess took the blame for.

This led veteran royal historian Hugo Vickers to share with an outlet: "This photograph is meant to reassure us that the Princess of Wales is well. If it is manipulated, it does pose a question."

"It's a pity," he added. "We have lost confidence in the photo. It is meant to reassure us but there have been doubts raised and we are all worried about it."

The media furor surrounding the image has led the future queen to reportedly move to Anmer Hall in Norfolk, to recuperate after weeks at Adelaide Cottage, in a relocation that led a royal insider to claim that "something is terribly wrong" with Her Royal Highness.

"The idea that Kate could not sit for one photo session tells me this is a much more dire situation than anyone knows," they claimed when referencing the controversial edited image.

Catherine, Princess of Wales, broke one of the monarchy's cardinal rules of "never explain" when she personally apologized for her Mother's Day photoshop mishap. Sources close to Her Royal Highness said she was simply trying to make the image "the best it could be" and that she is "deeply upset" by the furor her editing has caused.

The future queen released a photograph on Sunday, March 10, that featured herself, and her three children, Princes George and Louis and Princess Charlotte. A huge controversy arose sometime later when major media outlets such as the Associated Press and Reuters recalled the image due to suspicious alterations found within it. The snap was taken by Prince William and is the first clear image of the princess since Christmas Day 2023.

Scouts on social media noticed a litany of editing mishaps, with Charlotte's hands being called out as "clearly cut and paste" from previous images. Conspiracies even arose that the photo of the Princess of Wales was an old image from when she appeared in a magazine years ago.

Kate issued an apology for altering the image on her and William's social media accounts, which is a rare thing for a senior, British royal to do. Monarchy traditionalists quickly scolded Her Royal Highness for "playing to the gallery," which is one of the distinctions of royalty in that no response "kills the sensationalism," according to a palace insider.

"Like other news agencies, PA Media issued the handout image provided by Kensington Palace of the Princess of Wales and her children in good faith yesterday," a spokesperson for the U.K.’s national news agency shared in a press release.

GBN interviewed Vickers.