Though that’s not to say the royals and their team aren’t doing their best to explain the incident.
The original photo shared to her and William’s official social media accounts featured Kate with their children in honor of Mother’s Day in the U.K. and served as the first official picture of the Princess since she underwent planned abdominal surgery in January.
Hours later, however, agencies pulled it from their databases and issued “kill notices,” or advisories to editors and clients to remove or not use a picture.
“The Associated Press initially published the photo, which was issued by Kensington Palace,” the news wire said in a statement to NBC News. “The AP later retracted the image because at closer inspection, it appears that the source had manipulated the image in a way that did not meet AP’s photo standards. The photo shows an inconsistency in the alignment of Princess Charlotte’s left hand.”
E! News reached out to Kensington Palace for comment but did not hear back.
