Edited photos and international scandal: A full timeline of the weird Kate Middleton picture

The Kate Middleton conspiracies and saga hit new heights this weekend. In a move that was supposed to put rumours to bed about the Princess’ whereabouts after a few weeks of wild theories and mystery when we’d only seen an unofficial blurry photo of her since her last public appearance on Christmas Day, Kensington Palace released a Mother’s Day picture that raised more questions than answers. A lot has happened since the picture was posted yesterday, including Associated Press telling media outlets to “kill” the image late last night and the story going global in the press after social media analyses pointed out many inconsistent flaws in the picture. With Kate Middleton now releasing an official statement apologising for the matter, here is a full timeline of everything that has gone down since the instantly infamous Mother’s Day picture was shared.

Kensington Palace releases the picture

Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months.

Wishing everyone a Happy Mother's Day. C

📸 The Prince of Wales, 2024 pic.twitter.com/6DywGBpLLQ

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) March 10, 2024

The picture is posted by the Prince and Princess of Wales’ official accounts on social media yesterday. It comes after many rumours and theories surrounding Kate Middleton’s whereabouts following her abdominal surgery in January. The only other picture we’d seen of her came via TMZ – a blurry image of her in the car with sunglasses on.

First, people clocked no wedding ring

https://twitter.com/harrisonjbrock/status/1766786799001559425?s=20

Then all the bizarre inconsistencies that suggest it was altered…

not really kept up with this whole conspiracy theory, but this photo is SOO DODGY

two of their hands look very weird as if they're AI generated, and the girls arm has 100% been photoshopped and her skirt also looks weird as fuck as well? https://t.co/wB20kb0L6P pic.twitter.com/EeXHhmEtM5

— marc (@feelingsplain) March 10, 2024

Press agencies send out a ‘kill notification’ saying the palace has manipulated the image

No comment from Kensington Palace tonight after at least 3 international pictures agencies refuse to distribute this morning’s photo of Kate and her children. Some of them (@AP ) have claimed “the source [the palace] has manipulated the image”. pic.twitter.com/ppOwDtPr9P

— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) March 10, 2024

Kensington Palace issued a no comment when Associated Press, Reuters and other press agencies issued a kill notification for the picture – saying that it should no longer be distributed because “at closer inspection it appears that the source has manipulated the image. No replacement photo will be sent.”

Kate Middleton makes a statement apologising 

Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day. C

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) March 11, 2024

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This morning, the Princess of Wales has released a statement addressing the scandal.

“Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day. C.”

This has raised even more questions, with people wondering why she wouldn’t have her ring on and if the Palace will release the unedited version of the photo if Kate Middleton confesses she edited the Mother’s Day post.

Kate and William videoed at a farm shop

The first sighting of Kate and William together since it all blew up shows them allegedly at a farm shop in Windsor doing a shop. The footage has been released by The Sun and TMZ, but the conspiracy theories still rage on with mention of what looks to be Christmas decorations in the wooden huts behind them all.

So I can confirm, live from Windsor Farm Shop, that the pods are still here and so are the lights/decorations. I commented to staff I thought it’d be busy due to our famous guests. They just laughed 🤷‍♀️ Spent £12.67 I didn’t need to as well. Receipt attached 🤣 pic.twitter.com/2iLTH3V8EI

— Debs 🌸 (@WindsorDebs) March 19, 2024

However, a staff member has confirmed the decs are still up and attached receipt as proof.

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• All the best ‘occasionally experiment with editing’ memes after Kate Middleton’s apology

• Kate Middleton has just confirmed yesterday’s Royal Family photo was actually edited

• Stuck in a Kate Middleton rabbit hole? The all-time wildest Royal Family conspiracy theories

• Where is Kate Middleton? The unhinged tinfoil hat theories from Twitter have arrived

Featured image via Shutterstock.