"Experiment" with photo

Princess Kate admits to photo editing

Princess Kate has admitted that she herself edited the Mother's Day picture.(Bild: instagram.com/princeandprincessofwales)

Britain's Princess Kate has come forward following the scandal surrounding a doctored family photo of her that was published on Mothering Sunday. The 42-year-old, who is still recovering from her serious abdominal operation in January, is taking all the blame.

On Twitter, the wife of Prince William, who snapped the photo of her and the children, wrote: "Like many amateur photographers, I occasionally experiment with photo editing. I would like to apologize for any confusion caused by the family photo we shared yesterday. I hope everyone celebrating had a happy Mother's Day."

The message was signed with the abbreviation "C" for "Catherine". This means that the Princess wrote the post herself.

Suspicion of manipulation
Several international news agencies had withdrawn the picture of Princess Kate and her children on Sunday evening due to suspicions of manipulation after areas of the photo were discovered where alterations had clearly been made.

On closer inspection, several inconsistencies become apparent: Princess Charlotte's hair ends abruptly over her shoulder on one side and her left wrist is wider than her sleeve.

First photo after the operation
The photo released by Kensington Palace was the first official picture of the Princess of Wales since her abdominal surgery in January.

Princess Kate has admitted that she touched up the Mother's Day picture herself.(Bild: APA/AFP/KENSINGTON PALACE/Prince of Wales)

In the picture, Kate can be seen sitting on a garden chair on a veranda surrounded by her children. She has her feet crossed on the ground in front of her. Her arms are wrapped around the hips of her two younger children, Princess Charlotte (8) and Prince Louis (5), who can be seen to her left and right. Charlotte has one leg on the armrest.

Behind Kate is her eldest son Prince George (10). Kate is smiling, the children look downright exuberant. 

This post caused a stir.(Bild: Screenshot/instagram.com/princeandprincessofwales)

Wild speculation
The palace published it on the X platform (formerly Twitter) and on Instagram on Sunday to mark Mother's Day, after there had been no real sign of life from Kate for weeks.

It was then circulated by international news agencies.

Previously, there had been wild speculation about the whereabouts of the princess, who had a serious abdominal operation in mid-January and had not been seen in public since, apart from a blurry paparazzi photo. The palace remains silent about the nature of the Princess of Wales' illness.

Apology shows greatness
One thing is certain: even if the Princess's apology for the fact that the photo was not entirely genuine was very brief, it shows greatness. Instead of ignoring or glossing over the mistake, Kate has taken responsibility and shown that she takes the situation seriously. 

However, there won't be a chance to compare the edited image with the original. Kensington Palace stated that "the original, unedited photo of Kate and her children will not be published."