The Princess of Wales has been forced to make a public apology “for any confusion” she may have caused regarding a photograph released over the weekend.

It was taken by Prince William, showing her with the couple’s three children. In the Mother’s Day snap, all four are laughing and look in great spirits.

The image is the first of Catherine to be made public since her surgery in January. It was put out to the media by Kensington Palace, but soon afterwards five major news agencies withdrew the photo over concerns that it had been “manipulated”.

The photo was only intended as an “amateur, family photograph” and Kate admitted that she had done some “home editing”.

The 42-year-old princess spent 13 nights at the London Clinic, near Regent’s Park in central London, following abdominal surgery, and there has been speculation regarding her recovery.

Presumably the release of the picture was intended to ease concerns, but the opposite has happened, although many are also questioning what all the fuss is about.

Minor alterations

In the photograph the princess sits in between Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, with Prince George standing behind her. Seemingly, just as many parents do, Kate wanted to perform a couple of minor adjustments to the picture before posting it with a message which read: “Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months; wishing everyone a Happy Mother’s Day.”

“Kill the image”

However, soon afterwards five major agencies retracted the image over editing concerns. PA, Getty Images, AFP, Associated Press (AP) and Reuters all removed the photo quoting “inconsistency in alignment of Princess Charlotte’s left cuff and Prince Louis’ fingers.”

The Associated Press issued a “kill notification” which is an industry term used to make a retraction stating that at closer inspection “it appears that the source has manipulated the image”.

It was accepted that the photo which came out via Kensington Palace was provided “in good faith”. Nevertheless, in a statement the press said: “We became aware of concerns about the image and we made it clear that we were seeking urgent clarification about it from Kensington Palace, but in the absence of that clarification, we are killing the image from our picture service.”

What’s all the fuss about?

In the Princess of Wales statement later in the day she held her hands up to experimenting with editing and 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. C.”

She has happily taken responsibility for the slight alterations, rather than let William shoulder any blame. She obviously is surprised at the fuss being made and was keen to make it clear that this was not a case of any professional manipulation, simply some parental tidying of a special family moment.

Over-reaction

The confusion coming from the media outlets seems to have occurred due to the fact that most public royal events will have professional photographers and press representatives, but from the royal couple’s view point this was just a nice private moment, captured by the family themselves, as the princess recovers, and which she felt happy to share.

Unfortunately others have seen fit to make more of it than it actually is and significantly overreact. The counter argument on their part is that as it has been released to the wider press, it should be appreciated that it would be seen by hundreds of millions around the world, so they would be expecting the image to have originated from a professional photographer.

Therefore, when it became apparent that certain parts of the photograph did not look right, it was inevitable that questions would be asked.

Good to see princess looking better

Essentially, what seemed like a good idea has backfired, although realistically most people will see it for what it is… a nice family snap and an encouraging sign that the princess is on the mend.