Kate Middleton's absence from the public eye since she underwent surgery in January sparked a social media wave of speculation, which escalated following Kensington Palace’s decision to publish an edited family photograph on Mother’s Day.
The global query of Kate Middleton's whereabouts is yet to be solved, however, a new development linked to the same has been making headlines every day, like the latest social media post by popular English broadcaster Piers Morgan which claims to have captured the Princess of Wales on a "shopping trip".
Kate Middleton's absence from the public eye since she underwent surgery in January sparked a social media wave of speculation, which escalated following Kensington Palace’s decision to publish an edited family photograph on Mother’s Day.
The family photograph of Kate Middleton with her kids was visibly edited, to an extent where International news agencies decided to withdraw the photo due to fears that it had been doctored. The Palace had not responded to requests for the original untouched shot, Phil Chetwynd, the global news director of Agence-France, had said.
The social media speculation storm and wild conspiracy theories led a public apology which was posted on behalf of Kate Middleton on her social media accounts, where she said: “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,” the post read.
The conspiracy theories have now got some more fodder after Piers Morgan's social post, which claims to show Kate Middleton but netizens feel that is not her.
"Great to see (via @TheSun) Kate laughing and joking with William on their shopping trip. She’s obviously recovering well. This should end a lot of the conspiracy theories…," Piers Morgan's post read.
According to the thesun.co.uk, the photo is of Kate Middleton, "dressed down in a hoodie and leggings", carrying "her own shopping as she strolls through the car park at a farm shop."
"THE Princess of Wales smiled and looked relaxed and happy on a shopping trip with devoted hubby William," thesun.co.uk report said.
After another wave of speculation and conspiracy theories by social media users too on his post, Piers Morgan was compelled to put out another post, which read: "UPDATE: Nobody on here believes it’s them (it is…) so the conspiracy theories have increased."
"Went from abdominal surgery to plastic surgery real quick," one social media user wrote on Piers Morgan's first post.
Another wrote: "Two things modern cameras ?? can’t capture: 1. UFOs 2. Kate Middleton
"All the technology today and that’s the best photo they can get, same as when people photograph a UFO or Bigfoot, im not buying it," another user wrote.
Many people said that it was not Kate Middleton in the picture, adding that "they’ve replaced her". Piers Morgan had said on his show Uncensored on March 14 that Palace’s attempts to quash the conspiracy theories “got it wrong” and later claimed that “the Palace could be hiding something”.
Morgan said on Uncensored: “I’ve been told some stuff that, if even half of it is true, it’s pretty alarming what is happening. I don’t know what to believe, nor do any of us – we’re not there.”
He, however, also clarified that he could not confirm if what he had been informed was true.
Amid already conspiracy theories around Kate Middleton spreading like wildfire, another picture of the Royal Family has turned out to be “digitally enhanced at source".
According to The Telegraph, a 2022 photograph of Queen Elizabeth II surrounded by her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, taken by the Princess of Wales, was “digitally enhanced at source”, global picture agency Getty Images has said.
The photo, taken at Balmoral in August 2022, was reviewed by the picture agency days after picture of the Princess of Wales, amid her absence from the public eye, triggered speculation as netizens detected that the photo was doctored, prompting even news agencies to pull down the same.
As mentioned above in the copy, a post by Kate Middleton's social media account admitted that she had "edited" the Mother’s Day picture of herself and her three children.
The second photo that has now found to be doctored was released by the Buckingham Palace on April 21 last year to mark what would have been the late Queen’s 97th birthday.
A spokesman for Getty, cited in The Telegraph report, said: “Getty Images has reviewed the image in question and placed an editor’s note on it, stating that the image has been digitally enhanced at source.”
A close look at the picture seemingly shows several inconsistencies, including a vertical line where the tartan of the late Queen’s skirt does not match.