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The Princess of Wales has apologised for any "confusion" over the photo released by the royal family for Mother's Day in the UK, saying she "occasionally experiments with editing".
The first official image released of Princess Catherine since her abdominal surgery in January was initially widely seen as a positive sign of her recovery before multiple international photo agencies recalled the picture, saying it had been manipulated.
Kate addressed the furore in a statement shared on social media tonight.
"Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing," she said.
"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."
The picture of Catherine, 42, with her and Prince William's three children was published on the couple's social media channels on Sunday.
It was released as conspiracy theories swirled online about her long absence, which the palace had warned about after Kate's surgery in January, and widely seen as an effective way to alleviate those concerns.
But within 12 hours, international photo agencies, which provide media outlets like Nine with images to use on websites and newspapers, started to issue "kill" notices, after initially distributing the images.
By Monday night, Getty, the Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse (AFP) and the UK's Press Association had all recalled the image.
The Associated Press noted that "at closer inspection it appears that the source has manipulated the image".
AFP said it had withdrawn the photo due to "an editorial issue".
"It has come to light that this handout photo… issued by Kensington Palace today of the Princess of Wales and her kids had been altered and therefore it was withdrawn from AFP systems," the agency said.
The royals initially said the photo had been taken by Prince William "this week" but Kate's statement took responsibility for the editing errors.
Kate and Prince Louis, Prince George and Princess Charlotte are all beaming out big, broad smiles in the photo.
The Princess of Wales appears to have her arms wrapped around Louis and Charlotte, with her hands nestled tightly into their waists, while George beams from behind his mother.
One of the most obvious clues to potential doctoring of the image was Princess Charlotte's left hand, specifically the way the sleeve of her cardigan clearly did not line up, but was instead blurred and pushed to the side.
Other curiosities flagged in the picture are Kate's missing wedding ring, the positioning of Prince Louis' hand and a section of the floor tiles seeming blurred.
