Kate Middleton Admits To 'Editing' Mother's Day Pic After The Image Was Withdrawn By Photo Agencies

The Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, has cleared the air amid speculations about her adorable Mother's Day photo, which featured her and her children.

On Sunday, Kate's photo was heavily scrutinized by fans and top photo agencies following claims that it had been "doctored" and "manipulated." Now, the mother of three has admitted to actually "editing" the image in a statement shared on Monday.

On Mother's Day, Kensington Palace released the first official photo of the Princess of Wales in an attempt to shut down rumors and wild conspiracy theories surrounding her health status and whereabouts.

Unfortunately, their efforts only led to more scrutiny, with several eagle-eyed fans noticing that the image looked "doctored" and "photoshopped." This escalated further when top photo agencies, such as AP and Reuters, issued "Kill" alerts about the Mother's Day image, with demands to remove it from their websites and all social media platforms.

In a personal statement from the princess on Monday, she took responsibility for the "Photoshop" fails in the picture, noting that she did indeed edit it.

"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. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother's Day. C," the statement read, per the Daily Mail.

On social media, the image, which was initially praised for seemingly reliving royal fans' fears about Kate's health, began to receive criticism for being "photoshopped."

One person wrote on the Wales' official Instagram page: "Shout-out to whoever is doing PR ... Because nothing says "let's put the conspiracy theories to rest" quite like a very badly photoshopped/ai generated photo."

Another person said, "Ummmmm, this photo looks doctored… Catherine's right hand around Louis is entirely blurry, but the left hand around Charlotte, at the same distance to the camera, is not, and neither is Louis' jumper around the hand blurry. Also, Charlotte's dress, which is clothing her torso behind her arm, impedes on the sleeve at the wrist… the cardigan sleeve shows the dress in front of it when it should only be behind."

Other royal fans didn't seem to care, as they praised the family for the adorable photo and Prince William for photographing them.

One fan wrote, "Three cheers for Prince William. Anytime a dad nails a beautiful photo of a mom with her kids all smiling naturally. Well done, and may she recover fully."

This is not the first time the Prince and Princess of Wales have been accused of doctoring their family photo.

Last year, in December, Kensington Palace released the family's official Christmas card to an onslaught of criticisms from eagle-eyed fans. The image went viral on social media, with many pointing out a major photoshop issue with Prince Louis, the couple's youngest child.

Royal fans alleged that Louis was missing the middle finger on his right hand, which rested on his sister Princess Charlotte's chair. Only the 5-year-old's index, ring, and pinky fingers were visible in the photo, although it's not clear whether he was hiding the finger or if it was really a Photoshop mishap.

A fan's tweet about the picture read, "Prince Louis' finger is missing, also they have photoshopped someone else's leg onto his. I certainly hope taxpayers didn't pay for it." Another commented, "Louis is missing a finger; this has got to be the worst Photoshopped pic ever."

The couple's Family Christmas photo was further slammed in a "Saturday Night Live" skit. Unlike the Mother's Day photo, William and Kate never personally addressed Photoshop claims regarding their Christmas card.

During his short run on "Celebrity Big Brother," Kate's uncle, Gary Goldsmith, slammed the wild conspiracy theories surrounding his niece's health status.

He claimed that "there's a reason" behind the Princess' disappearance from the public and that conspiracy theorists "should leave her alone right now."

"They are giving her a little bit of space. I just think it's fundamentally wrong, and if it was happening to anybody else they would think to give them some space. But because Kate's Kate, she does such an amazing job, there's always interest in her. She's the number one royal for a reason and I just beg people to give her some space," he noted, per The Mirror.

After a short rant about being "family-centered," Goldsmith sent his get-well wishes to the 42-year-old, saying, "Kate, get well, love you, and when you're ready, we'll see you again. That's what we do to anyone else; why not her?"