Kate Middleton ‘humiliated’ but ‘quite happy’ to accept blame in photo edit scandal: royal expert

Kate Middleton’s response to her edited family photo has appeared to only cause more confusion.

After her Mother’s Day photo shared on social media was pulled from news agencies amid allegations of manipulation, Middleton addressed the issue head-on Monday.

Writing on official palace social media pages she said, "Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph was shared yesterday caused."

"I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day," she added, signing off with "C" for Catherine.

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Despite her statement, speculation is still running wild over whether the Princess of Wales was behind the photo editing, as well as general questioning of her overall health and whereabouts from the past few months.

Regarding the photo, royal reporter Neil Sean told Fox News Digital, "I think Catherine herself probably had the final say [on the photo]. And I think that what happened was probably in the rush she probably looked at and thought, you know, that looks okay and not [gave] too much attention, not too much detail."

He continued, "I believe someone else did the Photoshop 100%. And I think that she's being very gracious in accepting the blame."

Middleton has borne the brunt of the scrutiny over the photo and its alleged inconsistencies, but Sean stated, "What I've been told literally from an excellent source, in fact, is that she was quite happy to do that," as it also took attention off King Charles and Queen Camilla.

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"I think she is humiliated in some respects but doesn't really understand what this fuss is about," he said. 

The Associated Press announced that it was removing the image from its circulation over concerns it was "manipulated."

"AP initially published the photo, which was issued by Kensington Palace. But AP later retracted the image because at closer inspection, it appeared 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," the news agency said.

A statement on their site also urges, "Editors and Librarians: Kill from your systems and archives" and explains that "at closer inspection it appears that the source has manipulated the image. No replacement photo will be sent."

Fox News Digital confirmed that Reuters and Getty also pulled the photo from their sites.

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"A lot of those particular agencies have been looking for slip-ups for years, because remember, before they would sell the rights to that picture. Catherine and William have bypassed it by doing their own picture," Sean said. "Now, it could be that they'll have to revert back, at least for the next couple of pictures, to alleviate any claims of any misdemeanor type stuff. It’s going to be a mess for a while." 

In Sean’s opinion, the reaction to the photo is a means to elicit more information about Middleton and her health.

"I don't really understand how these people like these big agencies, Reuters and the Associated Press, they're just trying to bully this woman into giving them the health details," he said. 

Sean also noted that the larger issue isn’t trust with the palace, but the overall conspiracy theories running wild on social media, something the palace is struggling to stay ahead of.

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"They were used to years ago it being very controlled. They put an image out, that was that. Now, they have to really contend with the fact that people are scrutinizing, ripping apart even a facial expression," he said. "So, there's a lot of problems that they've never encountered before." 

He continued, "The other side of the story is that there's a lot of incompetence inside the royal palace of communication because they're very much young kids who never really go with what I would call the real world."

In Sean’s opinion, "I think Catherine and the team genuinely thought, 'Put a picture out on Mother's Day, that will stop people nagging about where she is, why isn’t she speaking, all that sort of stuff.' And what happened was the picture that they put together, they thought, 'Well, we'll just clean that up, make it look a little bit fresher.' And now suddenly you've got a furor."

The casual vibe of the photo of Middleton with her children was also a mark against Middleton in Sean’s opinion.

"One of the things that a very senior source told me was the dressed down image wasn't really the image that they thought was the right thing," he said.

He continued, noting he didn’t expect a formal look, "but I think it looked a little bit too, ‘Look, I'm just one of you,’ and that didn't really work, I think, for most people." 

Sean said if he was advising the Prince and Princess of Wales, he’d recommend releasing a video poking fun at the mistake, so that it "turns it back on all of the negative people, like, ‘We’re having a laugh. Why can’t you?’"

He added, "People will forgive you if you really are up front and honest. If you just say, 'I shouldn't have done this' or 'I shouldn't have said that.' But they think it will just go away… But it’s the social media thing that whips up a frenzy that’s far bigger than professional services."

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Speculation about Middleton’s whereabouts and health has been running wild since January when it was announced that she had been hospitalized and underwent a planned abdominal surgery.

A spokesperson for Middleton previously commented on the rumors, telling Fox News Digital at the end of February, "Kensington Palace made it clear in January the timelines of the Princess’ recovery and we’d only be providing significant updates. The guidance in January stands that the Princess would be recuperating at home in Windsor."

The Princess of Wales was first seen publicly in an unofficial capacity on March 4 when she was spotted by photographers being driven in a car by her mother, Carole Middleton.

Following the photoshop backlash, the Princess of Wales was spotted with Prince William in a car before he joined Queen Camilla at the Commonwealth Day event Monday.

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The palace first shared on Jan. 17 she'd been hospitalized for "abdominal surgery" and would be returning home to rest for ten to fourteen days.

"The Princess of Wales appreciates the interest this statement will generate. She hopes that the public will understand her desire to maintain as much normality for her children as possible; and her wish that her personal medical information remains private," the original statement continued. "The Princess of Wales wishes to apologise to all those concerned for the fact that she has to postpone her upcoming engagements. She looks forward to reinstating as many as possible, as soon as possible."

Recommendations from her medical team indicated that the princess would likely not resume public duties until Easter, later this month.

Her first confirmed royal engagement will be in June at the Trooping of the Colour ceremony, an event at Horse Guards Parade to honor King Charles' birthday, according to the British Army's official website.

Fox News Digital's Caroline Thayer and The Associated Press contributed to this report.