Royal expert Katie Nicholl says she expects Kensington Palace to “ride out” the storm sparked by the first official image of Princess Kate after her surgery.
The image of Kate and her children, said by the Palace to have been taken by the Prince of Wales, was posted on social media.
But it was withdrawn by international picture agencies later the same day over concerns the image had been manipulated.
Kensington Palace is yet to comment on the concerns raised about the picture, and Nicholl told GB News she does not expect them to do so anytime soon.
Katie Nicholl has spoken on Kate image 'manipulation' claims
KENSINGTON PALACE / GB NEWS
“I think the difficulty in all of this is, we haven’t had a response from Kensington Palace”, she said.
“They have been very quiet on this. Possibly we might get something on this later today.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Princess Kate had planned abdominal surgeryKensington Palace / Will Warr“My experience of this is, they will probably let this ride out and they will move onto other issues.”
Asked by Eamonn Holmes whether the Palace will “get away” with letting the situation play out, Nicholl pointed out a key issue the royals are facing.
“What’s so major is that four international picture agencies have killed this image, that is really rare”, she said.
“I can’t think of a time since I’ve been doing this job where an image has been recalled.
Katie Nicholl joins Eamonn and Isabel on GB News
GB NEWS
“That might force Kensington Palace’s hand.”
The picture shows Kate sitting in a chair with her arms around Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, who are on either side of her, with Prince George standing behind, as all four smile at the camera.
But there was speculation that edits had been made to the left sleeve of Princess Charlotte’s cardigan, and other areas of the picture also raised concerns about possible manipulation.
In the social media post, Kate thanked the public “for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months”.
The 42-year-old future queen was last pictured in public during a Christmas Day walk in Sandringham, Norfolk.
Kate is not expected to return to official duties until after Easter, and William, 41, temporarily stepped back from his royal role to juggle caring for her and their children as she recovered.
He returned to royal duties in February and is expected to carry out an engagement linked to his Earthshot environmental prize on Monday, as well as accompanying the Queen at events to mark Commonwealth Day.
