Embarrassing mishap

First official photo of Kate released

Princess Kate - here in an archive photo(Bild: APA/AFP/POOL/Ian Vogler)

Fans can breathe a sigh of relief. The palace published the first official photo of Princess Kate to mark Mother's Day. But now there has been renewed fuss about the Princess, who underwent an abdominal operation in January and had completely disappeared from the public eye since then: numerous international agencies withdrew the picture due to "suspected manipulation" - probably an embarrassing mishap.

It was a beautiful Mother's Day picture, intended to calm nerves and quell malicious internet speculation about the Princess of Wales' condition.

Sunday night, however, questions were raised about possible digital manipulation of the atmospheric family photo, which shows Kate with her three children.

The now dubious shot was shared via the official Kensington Palace account:

The picture was the first that 42-year-old Kate had shown publicly since her stomach operation in January - at least officially. However, foreign picture agencies suddenly withdrew the Mother's Day picture.

The AP news agency issued a warning calling for the image to be removed from its systems, stating: "On closer inspection, it appears that the source has manipulated the image." Other agencies called for it to be removed from image libraries for "editorial" reasons.

Princess Kate - here in an archive photo(Bild: APA/AFP/POOL/Ian Vogler)

"Somewhat edited"
There is currently great concern in the news industry about the manipulation of photos using AI technology - although it is unlikely that this was the case here. According to AP, the photo shows an "inconsistency" in the depiction of Princess Charlotte's left hand. According to the BBC, the original could simply have been "slightly edited".

There also appeared to be a problem with the heel of Charlotte's boots, her wrist and the sleeve of her sweater, as well as the plaster behind the family, according to some observers ...

Fans worried for weeks: "Where is Kate?"
In recent weeks, wild speculation about Kate's whereabouts had become increasingly rampant. The wildest conspiracy theories arose.

"Where is Kate?" was the headline in the British tabloids, and fans of the royals could not understand the secrecy of the palace - which had been so open about Charles' cancer, for example ...