The speculation and conspiracy theories surrounding Kate Middleton's whereabouts - after she 'disappeared' from public life following abdominal surgery in January - reached such a fever pitch at the weekend that Kensington Palace decided to release the first authorised picture of Kate since Christmas.
The image, released to mark Mother’s Day in the UK, shows Catherine sitting on a chair at her family's home in Windsor, surrounded by her three children George, Louis and Charlotte.
Sadly the sweet snap did little to dispel the rumours surrounding the royal family after fans noticed several inconstancies with the image.
What was wrong with Kate Middleton's Mother's Day photo?
At first glance, the Mother's Day image appears to a lovely picture of The Princess of Wales and her three children. However, upon closer inspection, internet detectives found that the image had been digitally altered.
Firstly, the sleeve of Princess Charlotte's cardigan did not appear to line up, neither did Kate Middleton's jacket zip.
As a result, after its release, the photo was recalled by photo agencies including Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters, which put out a ‘kill notice’ to halt distribution of the picture.
Eric Baradat, photo director for Agence France-Presse, responded to the claims of doctoring saying, 'It is clear to any experienced digital image professional that it has been doctored. It has been done in a very amateurish way.'
Mr Baradat also claimed there had also been edits to the princess’s face, sweater, hair, and skirt. and pointed out apparent alterations to the sweaters worn by Princes Louis and George.
Why was Kate Middleton's Mother's Day photo recalled?
Reuters - another image agency - said in an official statement it had withdrawn The Princess of Wales' picture following a post-publication review which found that the image had been altered.
‘We are reviewing the matter,’ a spokesperson said. They later added they could not immediately establish how, why or by whom the alteration had been made.
Associated Press said that according to its ‘news values and principles’, minor edits to photos including cropping, toning and colour adjustment are ‘acceptable when necessary for clear and accurate reproduction and should maintain the authentic nature of the photograph’.
‘Changes in density, contrast, colour and saturation levels that substantially alter the original scene however, are not acceptable. Backgrounds should not be digitally blurred or eliminated by burning down or by aggressive toning. The removal of ‘red eye’ from photographs is not permissible.’
Whilst the photo agencies, are well within their rights to remove images from their sites, many including royal photographer Ian Lloyd, found that their decision only added fuel to the fire. He told BBC Breakfast on Monday morning, 'Somebody feels they've gone a step too far'.
Why did Kate Middleton apologise for her Mother's Day photo?
The Princess of Wales has since responded to the speculation surrounding her photograph which was taken by her husband Prince William.
In an Instagram story posted on the official Prince and Princess of Wales Instagram account she wrote, '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.'
She then added, 'I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother's Day. C'