UK royals face questions over altered Princess of Wales image

LONDON

Britain's royal family faced mounting pressure on March 11 to explain how an official photo of Catherine, Princess of Wales had been altered, after agencies withdrew the image.

Kate, 42, has not been seen in public since attending a Christmas Day church service, and underwent abdominal surgery in January, fueling speculation about her health, particularly online.

Her Kensington Palace office on March 10 sought to dispel rumors by distributing an official photograph said to have been taken by her husband Prince William of her with their three children.

But questions quickly emerged of the Mother's Day portrait of a smiling Kate, casually dressed and seated in a garden chair, surrounded by Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

Closer examination showed specifically that Charlotte's left hand was misaligned with the sleeve of her cardigan.

AFP, Getty, the Associated Press (AP) and Reuters all have policies about distributing manipulated images, and pulled it, despite initially publishing the photograph provided by Kensington Palace.

"It has come to light that the handout issued by Kensington Palace today of Kate and the kids had been altered, therefore it was withdrawn from AFP systems," the agency said in a note to clients.

The AP said it had retracted the image because on "closer inspection, it appeared the source had manipulated the image in a way that did not meet AP's photo standards." Reuters said similar.

Despite the furor, which many commentators suggested now cast doubt on palace reassurances about Kate's health and recuperation, Kensington Palace has not commented.

Intense interest in Kate's absence comes from the fact that William is heir to the throne, meaning she will be one day be queen.

According to Kensington Palace, she was admitted to hospital on Jan. 16 for planned surgery, then left on Jan. 29, to recuperate at home until at least Easter on March 31.

The contentious photograph, published on all royal social media channels and widely picked up in Britain and across the world, was accompanied a message signed by Kate.

"Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months. Wishing everyone a Happy Mother's Day," it read. The message was signed "C" for Catherine.

British newspapers quickly changed their front pages late on March 10 to reflect the brewing controversy.

Royal officials have not specified the nature of Kate's operation but have said it was not cancer-related.

On March 12, Catherine, Princess of Wales posted a reply on social media to the conspiracy theories circulating online following the submission of the photograph. Apologizing for the misunderstanding, Catherine 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.”