Kate, Princess of Wales, would have been “hit hard” by the Mother’s Day photo scandal, a royal expert has said.
Last Sunday, Kate sparked much online speculation when she posted a photo with her three children to mark Mother’s Day. It showed the Princess of Wales with her three kids and was reportedly taken recently while Kate recovers from her abdominal surgery.
However, the Princess of Wales issued an apology statement after speculation about whether the image had been edited. Image agencies had pulled the picture from circulation due to concerns it had been “manipulated”.
On Monday (March 11), Kate apologised for any “confusion” and said she does “occasionally experiment with editing”.
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Later on Monday, Kate appeared alongside Prince William as they were driven in a car. Reports claimed that Kate had a private appointment while William attended the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey.
Now, royal commentator and expert Duncan Larcombe has exclusively told ED! that we could expect to see more of Kate “out and about” before her official return to duties. Back in January, Kensington Palace said Kate would be recovering until Easter time.
Speaking to us, Duncan said: “What [the palace] won’t want to do is for her to come back too soon. That would be worst case scenario. Once the doctors are absolutely happy and she’s happy, then we’ll start to see her again.
“I think with Kate and all of the fuss over the photograph, I don’t think that will do her any lasting harm because I think her popularity with the public is so high.
“She seems to have come out of it with her explanation and some commentators and journalists say it’s awful but I think most members of the public think ‘well so what’. I don’t think that’s done her PR any lasting damage although it was obviously embarrassing.”
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He went on to discuss Kate’s outing with William this week. Duncan continued: “I thought it was interesting that she was pictured with William. I think we can probably expect a little bit more of that where she’ll be spotted out and about before formally stepping out for her first royal engagement.
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“That visibility is obviously important to quash these crazy conspiracy theories which are not doing any good whatsoever.”
I do think this would have hit her quite hard.
When asked how this photo scandal would have affected the Princess of Wales, Duncan told us: “I think the online conspiracies will have upset her greatly. Kate is savvy and aware of things that are written about her and she’s not really used to being the subject of criticism.
“She’s almost walked on water since she first met William. Compared to other members of the royal family, she’s had an incredibly easy ride. So I do think this would have hit her quite hard. It was unfortunate that it played into the hands of the conspiracy theorists.”
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Moving forward, Duncan said he believes this scandal will have “quite a big impact on what they’ll do”. He explained: “It’s been a long time now since Kate started to issue her own pictures. She does it to maintain control.
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“But it was always a bit of a risky strategy because it would lay her open to criticism about actually how transparent are they. I think this will have taught her that there really are PR risks to doing that.”
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams added to us: “This has been a stressful and torrid time for the Princess of Wales. The furore over the photograph Kensington Palace released on Mothering Sunday, with the intention of quashing the mounting speculation about her health has involved an apology and been embarrassing.
“However, she looks well and we can expect her to resume royal engagements after Easter as planned. The controversy over the photograph, which has reached hysterical levels, will undoubtedly mean that extra attention will, for a while, be given to her public appearances when they begin. Ahead of Easter it is unlikely we will see her, but the fuss will die down. There is little more to be said about it at the moment.”
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