The Latest Twist In The Kate Middleton Conspiracy Saga Is The Most Damning Yet

The saga of Kate Middleton's vanishing act has taken an unexpected turn that has conspiracy theorists going wild. After Kensington Palace released the first authorized photo of the royal since she was photographed attending church with her family on Christmas Day, some news agencies issued a kill notification regarding its stories centered on the picture (via Chris Ship on X). The reason they amended their reporting confirmed some people's suspicions about the picture.

At first glance, there's nothing wrong with the image of Kate celebrating Mother's Day with her three kids, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. They look happy and healthy spending time outside together on a lovely day. However, AP was among the news agencies that suggested the palace's photo may have been digitally manipulated. This is an allegation some royal watchers immediately made after noticing some apparent signs of digital manipulation. That's when the Associated Press sent out a kill notification advising clients to remove its original story from all social media platforms. So, what is going on here?

According to ITV News Royal Editor Chris Ship, AFP sent out an email advising its clients to stop using the photo of Kate Middleton and her kids immediately. "Due to an editorial issue this photo ... has been withdrawn from AFP systems and may no longer be used in any manner," its notice reads. After removing its original report about the photo, AP further explained, "At closer inspection, it appeared the source had manipulated the image in a way that did not meet AP's photo standards." The primary evidence of forgery is apparently Charlotte's wrist — a small section of the sleeve of her red sweater appears to be missing. Reuters also tweeted that it had deleted its report about the photo.

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

Some royal watchers believe that the photo of Kate is fake for other reasons. One X user suggested that her body looks like it belongs to someone else, and another opined that Prince Louis' fingers are strangely positioned, writing, "That is a common sign of an AI generated image." Prince William was credited with taking the snapshot, and one person theorized that he is to blame for the tell-tale sleeve. They suggested that he tried to blend multiple pictures together because he didn't find any single snapshot satisfactory, but the absent chunk of sweater in the final result escaped his notice.

In its reporting about the editing fail, The Daily Mail noted that this isn't the first time Kensington Palace has released a questionable official photo of William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales posing with their family — one of Prince Louis' fingers appeared to do a disappearing act in the royals' 2023 Christmas card picture. Of course, that was before Kate Middleton's long absence from the public eye launched an outpouring of outlandish conspiracy theories and silly memes.

According to BBC News, Kensington Palace declined to comment on the apparent editing error that resulted in the retraction of Kate's Mother's Day image by multiple news agencies. Had there been nothing unusual about it, the photo possibly would have curbed some of the rampant speculation that there is something seriously amiss with Kate. But as British television personality Piers Morgan noted, releasing a digitally manipulated image to accomplish this was a major blunder. "They'll have just made things 100x worse," he tweeted.

Kensington Palace has made a few questionable moves since Kate Middleton's abdominal surgery put her out of commission for months. Some royalists weren't joining the chorus of internet comedians joking about her disappearance, but were sincerely worried about her wellbeing. However, the palace didn't seem to have these supporters in mind in late February when it issued an icy response to the widespread speculation about Kate. "Kensington Palace made it clear in January the timelines of the princess' recovery and we'd only be providing significant updates," the royal's rep told The New York Post.

Kensington Palace also waited so long to release a post-surgery photo of Kate that the paparazzi beat them to the punch. After TMZ obtained a grainy picture of Kate in an SUV, the palace had to reach out to U.K. publications and beg them not to publish it. The Daily Mail reported being asked to respect Kate's wish to maintain her privacy.

The evanescing, convalescing princess was expected to be back at work by Easter, and The British Army's website announced that she would be reviewing the "Trooping the Colour" ceremony in June. Her name was later removed from the list of attendees, creating even more confusion and cause for wild speculation about some vast royal family conspiracy. At least it wasn't Kensington Palace adding fuel to the fire in this instance — BBC News reported that the Army didn't check with the palace before making its announcement.