The Princess of Wales’ ‘manipulated’ photo is a disastrous own goal

The photograph of Kate Middleton surrounded by her family was supposed to reassure the public. ‘Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months. Wishing everyone a Happy Mother’s Day,’ the caption alongside the picture read.

Seasoned royal watchers saw a code in the terse statement: you’ve had your fun speculating what’s going on when it comes to the Princess of Wales’s absence from public life on health grounds, but I’m here, I’m fine, and there’s nothing to worry about. This should, under normal circumstances, have put an end to the matter. But then the picture was withdrawn by four international photo agencies, including Getty Images and Reuters. ‘At closer inspection it appears that the source has manipulated the image’, as Associated Press put it. Cue chaos.

There had been several weeks of gossip about the Princess of Wales’s whereabouts, after she had not been seen in public since she had undergone abdominal surgery in January.