All those speculations surrounding Kate Middleton following her ‘planned’ abdominal surgery that the Palace failed to provide any further details about won’t seem to settle any time soon.
The reason why is that the public and the media have a hard time understanding why her health state has been kept a secret for so long. Months following the procedure, no one had heard of Kate nor her whereabouts until TMZ published a photo of her in the passenger seat of a car in front of Windsor. She was pictured together with her mother and wore dark sunglasses.
Many were convinced that the photo was staged, but royal experts stood by the Princess’ side and claimed that in case the photo was a staged one, she would likely pose outside of the car giving the paparazzi a smile.
Not long after, Kate Middleton posted a photo herself. And as much as it gave a glimpse of hope to her many fans, it was soon revealed that the photo was manipulated by the Princess herself.
“Professional photographer here. Look closely at Princess Charlotte’s wrist. This is what happens when you composite layers in Photoshop. I’m not speculating on why the photo was edited like this, but it’s weird,” portrait photographer Martin Bamford wrote on X.
Arthur Edwards – WPA Pool/Getty Images
Some edit fails, as noticed by experts, were Princess Charlotte’s missing sleeve and blurred skirt and Kate’s misplaced zip.
Others noticed that Kate wasn’t wearing her ring and her hand around Louis was “blurry.” Her wrist and jumper sleeve were also manipulated by photoshop according to many, as well as her chin.
Shortly after, The Associated Press, Reuters, Getty Images, and Agence France-Presse all decided to issue “kill notices,” which are advisory notices to remove or not use a specific photo.
“It appears that the source has manipulated the image,” the Associated Press notification read.
They also released a statement, saying, “The Associated Press initially published the photo, which was issued by Kensington Palace. The AP later retracted the image because at closer inspection, it appears that the source had manipulated the image in a way that did not meet AP’s photo standards. The photo shows an inconsistency in the alignment of Princess Charlotte’s left hand.”
Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images
While Kate received criticism, experts claimed she wasn’t the one to blame but the Palace which failed to protect her.
Royal expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News that the palace is responsible for what she calls “yet another public relations disaster.”
“The certainty is that a ‘slimmed down monarchy’ means fewer are guiding the royals and those who are aren’t as media savvy as they need to be,” Fordwich said. “In our fast-paced world with tech-savvy media outlets, the palaces need to hire the best and brightest in such fields.”
“While this certainly isn’t ‘business as usual’ nor what we would expect from a royal household… it shows great humility to admit one’s mistakes,” Fordwich continued. “Others might have either remained silent or tried to blame another. Kate issued a straight-up, no-nonsense apology. Many could learn a lesson from such.”
Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images
The question that raises is whether the Palace is doing enough to protect Kate Middleton, and according to royal expert and author Tom Bower, they are not.
“People around the world just want to bring her down because it gives them pleasure. And then, when she did, they should have got a professional photographer in to make sure there were no hiccups like has now occurred,” Bower told The Sun.
He continued: “She’s undergone the most very serious operation imaginable. She needs a long time to recover. And I fear that she has been under terrible pressure to perform and instead of protecting her, her staff in Kensington Palace, failed to give her the support and protection she needs.”
Further, Bower believes that the Palace’s main focus should be help Kate recover completely instead of releasing more images.
“There are republicans and mischief makers who want to do everything now, to destroy the monarchy, to destroy Britain as it is today, who don’t share our values and see Kate as a soft target, an easy target and another target to seek to undermine British values and British tradition,” he added.
Charlotte Graham-WPA Pool/Getty Images
TMZ, the news outlet that published the first public photo of Kate following her surgery has also released a video showing the Princess in the presence of her husband while doing shopping at the Windsor Farm shop, a business about a mile from their Adelaide Cottage home. As per the outlet, the video was taken on Sunday.
“After all the rumours that had been going round, I was stunned to see them there. Kate was out shopping with William, and she looked happy and well,” a visitor shared with The Sun.
“The kids weren’t with them but it’s such a good sign she was healthy enough to pop down to the shops,” they added.
The entire situation Kate has found herself in the middle of doesn’t only affect her but her children as well.
“The public are so rude, so unkind and so demanding, it is as if they own her and as if they bought her. I think it’s an absolutely appalling way to behave towards someone who’s been so dignified and dutiful. You couldn’t expect more of her as a mother,” royal author Angela Levin told GB News.
“You can see her children adore her and as an heir to the throne, she adores William, so leave her alone. I think it’s just appalling. She doesn’t want the children to know what she’s had. I think any mother would feel the same.”
Samir Hussein/WireImage
Levin added that since Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis are “old enough to know what is happening,” it has become a significant problem.
“I’ve also had someone quite close to Kate who says to me she has given someone a kidney; it has nothing to do with her illness. I have no idea whether or not this is true. It does leave you very languid and not well. I don’t know if it’s that because she did seem to be great until she went into the hospital.”
Angela Levin concluded, “I’m not saying that is what it is and I haven’t had it proven in any way, but it makes more sense to me than other things that people have been saying.”
Another issue that arose from Kate’s edited Mother’s Day photo is that she was not wearing her wedding ring. This rose rumors about the stability of her marriage. Even some friends close to the couple who spoke to the media said they were left baffled by this detail.
Shutterstock/Shirley Preston
“They are often seen together at school events, and really it is remarkable how one and often both of them will always be at every match, every music concert and every prize giving,” a friend told the Daily Beast.
“The relationship has always seemed incredibly strong despite the immense pressure they are under, so it’s fair to say we were all completely baffled when the picture came out with the wedding ring missing, especially as it was photoshopped. It just seemed guaranteed to get people asking questions about the state of the marriage.”
We truly believe that in the days to come the entire mystery involving Kate would unveil.
Please SHARE this article with your family and friends on Facebook.