Kate Middleton feels 'awful and sad' about the royal photo editing backlash

Over the weekend, the Princess of Wales shared a photo of herself and her three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, to mark Mother's Day. The image, which was initially shared on Kate and William's social media accounts, came after weeks of speculation over the Princess' health. 

In January the Palace announced that Kate had undergone abdominal surgery and would not return to work until after Easter. However, her absence from public life has fuelled concerns over her recovery and a spokesperson broke royal protocol to respond to the 'wild conspiracy theories' circulating online. 

Unfortunately, the image of Kate and her children did little to dampen the growing discussions around her health as it was quickly pulled from photo and news agencies such as Getty Images, AFP, Reuters, Associated Press and PA after they noted 'inconsistencies' in the image and voiced concerns that it had been 'manipulated'. 

Although Kensington Palace declined to comment immediately after news of the kill notices broke, Kate went on to release a statement on Monday confirming that she had edited the photo, writing: "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."

According to reports, Kate is now feeling 'awful and sad' in the wake of the photo editing backlash, as per the Mirror. Royal biographer Ingrid Seward told the publication that the backlash against the Princess is 'deeply unfair' saying: "It is ridiculous and deeply unfair when she is trying to recover from major surgery. She has been posing for pictures all her royal life so just give her a break."

So far, the Palace has refused to release the unedited image. A source told the same paper: "The Princess has shared a statement on social media. This was an amateur, family photograph taken by the Prince of Wales. Their royal highnesses wanted to offer an informal picture of the family together for Mother's Day. The Princess made minor adjustments as she shared in her statement on social media. The Wales family spent Mother’s Day together and had a wonderful day."

The Palace has not offered further comment.