How Kate Middleton Really Reacted To That Mother's Day Photo Scandal, According To Royal Insiders

The royal family is no stranger to controversy. Over the years, several members of the distinguished family have become entangled in public scandals. In March 2024, Catherine, Princess of Wales, and William, Prince of Wales found themselves embroiled in a massive controversy and received a lot of backlash for posting an image on Mother's Day in the U.K. Initially, the picture received a lot of love from everyone, congratulating the Princess for an endearing image. However, things changed when several media outlets retracted the photograph, citing excessive editing. The withdrawal of the photo made things worse for the couple, particularly Middleton, and prompted a staggering reaction from the Princess of Wales. 

For the uninitiated, in January 2024, Kensington Palace issued a statement, noting that the Princess of Wales underwent a "planned abdominal surgery" on January 16 and won't be making any public appearance until Easter. Her absence sent everyone into a frenzy, prompting questions to the royal family about Middleton's whereabouts. After months of silence, the Princess shared an endearing picture of her with her three children and expected people to stop speculating about the entire situation. However, what she didn't expect was a negative response to the picture featuring editing inconsistencies. 

Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months.

Wishing everyone a Happy Mother's Day. C

📸 The Prince of Wales, 2024 pic.twitter.com/6DywGBpLLQ

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) March 10, 2024

The claims of Middleton's reaction were made in the newly published chapters of Robert Hardman's book "Charles III: New King. New Court. Inside Story". In the book, the biographer asserted that Middleton and William were shocked to see the public response to the photo and were "astonished by what happened next," (via People).

The claims made by royal expert Robert Hardman have already made it clear that Kate Middleton and Prince William didn't expect that kind of reaction from the public. On the other hand, they never thought that outlets such as Associated Press, AFP, Reuters, and Getty Images would disavow the picture after issuing a "kill notice." However, according to a member of Middleton and William's staff, Middleton never wanted to use that image to silence anyone; instead, she wanted to make people happy. Moreover, he called the public reaction "extremely disproportionate."  "As far as the Princess was concerned this had just been a mother deciding to share a personal picture of her and her children on Mother's Day to bring some joy to the nation. That's all," the aide told Hardman (via InStyle).

But the Princess of Wales didn't want the controversy to escalate and she apologized for editing the Mother's Day photo. Correspondingly, on March 22, Middleton finally revealed why she had not been seen at any royal events and announced that she had been diagnosed with cancer. Her announcement prompted the royal family supporters to send their best wishes for a speedy recovery. Although the princess didn't reveal what kind of cancer she was diagnosed with, Middleton noted that she had already started "preventive chemotherapy." No timeline has been given for her treatment, but Kate Middleton is doing everything and anything she can to return to normalcy.