Kate Middleton spotted leaving Windsor Castle with William is an attempt by the Palace 'to show that she's up and about', experts say as royals grapple with fallout from Photoshop fiasco

Pictures of the Princess of Wales leaving Windsor Castle with Prince William are an attempt by the Palace to show 'she's up and about' amid the fallout from her edited Mother's Day photo, experts said tonight.

Kate was pictured alongside her husband leaving Windsor Castle this afternoon just hours after she apologised for digitally editing a family portrait released on Sunday.

The photo was the subject of a kill notice from several reputable agencies due to the alterations.

With the Prince of Wales heading to Westminster Abbey for the annual Commonwealth Day service today, some speculated that Kate could be joining him in a surprise return to royal duties.

But MailOnline understands that Kate was heading to a private appointment instead. 

Kate had looked out of her window as William appeared to read some notes on his phone as they were swept out of the grounds of Windsor Castle in a blue Range Rover that later dropped William at the Abbey without her.

Royal commentator Michael Cole told MailOnline that her appearance is a 'pretty obvious attempt to move the story on' and to show she is 'up and about'.

Prince William leaves Windsor for Westminster Abbey this afternoon with his wife next to him

Kate was seen looking out of the window of the car as William looked like he was reading notes

The mother-of-three was not expected to be seen in public until after Easter following abdominal surgery and two weeks in a private London hospital in January. Her surprise appearance came as wild online conspiracy theories swirled around the princess and her health.

It came as Kensington Palace came under increasing pressure to release the original Mother's Day photograph after the Princess of Wales apologised after she admitted she had edited the family portrait of herself sitting with Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

Experts told MailOnline it was changed using Photoshop and related AI tools.

The world's major photo agencies later 'killed' the picture after noticing signs of digital editing, including a missing part of Princess Charlotte's sleeve and the misaligned edge of her wrist and skirt, and the positioning of Kate's zip.

Royal commentator Michael Cole told MailOnline: 'The fiasco of the faked photograph is a very bad look for the Royal Family at a very difficult time.

'The apology by the Princess of Wales for manipulating the Mother's Day image of herself and her children is well meant.

'It will be accepted by those people who are kind and understanding. Kate is and will remain a popular person with the general public.

'But it cannot be denied that this episode does reveal a terrible naivety, bordering on foolishness.

A smiling Prince William walks into the Commonwealth Service this afternoon

Queen Camilla and the Prince of Wales attend the annual Commonwealth Day Service

'What was she thinking, imagining she could fool experts whose profession is scrutinising hundreds of photographs every day, to judge whether they are authentic, and worthy of publication, or fraudulent images for immediate deletion?'

He added that today's appearance in the car with Prince William is 'a pretty obvious attempt to move the story on' by giving the media a 'new, genuine, authentic, real photograph' of her that has not been Photoshopped.

He continued: 'This may shows the public that she is, indeed, up and about - but still not well enough to attend the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey.

'She has now been pictured three times since her operation but always sitting down; so it is reasonable to conjecture that she is not fully ambulatory yet.

'This latest appearance will not divert attention from the fact that an official royal photograph has been faked. That is a first. Kensington Palace must now come up with a full and plausible explanation of how and why this cack-handed attempt at media manipulation came about.

'Otherwise, there is a danger of permanent damage to the credibility of the royal family.

'It is that serious. At a time when artificial intelligence is increasingly being used to present a false picture of famous people and important events, being scrupulously honest and straightforward in public communication is essential.

'Nothing else will do.'

This morning the Princess of Wales gave an apology on social media. She said: 'Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother's Day'. She signed it 'C' - for Catherine.

Kensington Palace yesterday released the first picture of the Princess of Wales since surgery

Kate also posted the apology on the Prince and Princess of Wales' Instagram account

PR experts have described the Mother's Day photo fiasco as a 'massive own goal' and urged royal officials to release the unedited picture in a bid to regain the public's trust.

Mr Cole said: 'Lie once and you won't be believed when you tell the truth. Any hint of trickery undermines the message. Trust once lost is very difficult to regain.

'I was shocked when America's Associated Press and London-based Reuters issued a 'kill notice' on the Mother's Day photograph released by the Press Office at Kensington Palace, showing the Princess of Wales and her three children, laughing and happy, an image that it said was taken by Prince William, the Prince of Wales, at their home, Adelaide Cottage, in Windsor Great Park, last week.

'AP and Reuters are the world's two most prestigious news agencies; I can say that because I once worked for their biggest rival, UPI. That they should withdraw the photo and warn their clients not to use it, because it had been manipulated at 'source' (by Kensington Palace), is a highly damaging indictment.

'The problem, said AP, was that the hand, wrist and cardigan sleeve of Princess Charlotte, 8, had been altered after the picture was taken - 'Photoshopped' in the jargon of the trade. A minor matter? Not so, AP's top person in Britain told me: 'For us, it does not matter what the manipulation is, only that it happened'.

'Quite right. Agencies have to be constantly on their guard against distributing false images, in particular from places like Gaza and Ukraine where warring factions pump out propaganda photographs making the points that they wish the world to see.'

Kensington Palace had initially faced calls to reveal the truth behind the photo after the world's top picture agencies - including the Press Association - 'killed' the image over claims it had been digitally manipulated.

Kate this morning admitted she had edited the photograph and issued a personal apology 'for any confusion' it had caused. Sky News' analysis of the photo's metadata found the image was taken with a Canon camera and was saved in Adobe Photoshop twice on an Apple Mac. Other experts suggested she may have used an AI tool.

The photo of the mother-of-three beaming with Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis was the first official picture released of the princess since she under went 'planned abdominal surgery' in January.

Royal commentator Michael Cole told MailOnline that her appearance is a 'pretty obvious attempt to move the story on' and to show she is 'up and about'

Queen Camilla and Prince William giggle as they walk the royals through the Abbey

Queen Camilla and Prince William laugh as they walk the royals through the Abbey

Prince Edward and Princess Sophie are seen arriving at the Commonwealth Day service

While the princess publicly took the blame for altering the photo, Kensington Palace said it would not be reissuing the unedited photograph of Kate and her children.

Mr Cole added: 'Windsor is a world away from a battle front but the principle is the same.

'Photographic specialists approach their work with forensic skills because they have to be able to spot fakes, as the Princess of Wales now knows if she didn't before.

'To think she could doctor such a happy image was well beyond foolish. It was counter- productive and in the extreme.

'For an object lesson in turning success into failure, this episode is hard to beat.

'The warm welcome that was at first given by the public to the first official picture of Kate, Princess of Wales, since what was clearly major abdominal surgery on 17 January, has now become doubt in the public's mind:

'If we can't trust the photograph, can we trust what we are being told about the health of the Princess?

It appears Charlotte's hand was copied over from another picture as there is an empty space where her sleeve should be (left). Kate's zip appears to be misaligned on the photo as the top of it is further left and appears significantly lighter than the rest of the zip (right)

Charlotte's hair seems to end abruptly on her shoulder (left) on her right despite her hair on the left going on for a few inches. The corner of Charlotte's skirt (right) was pointed out as another 'editing error' by social media sleuths

'With so much rumour circulating- most of it cruel, unkind and frankly ridiculous - candour from Kensington Palace and the Prince and Princess of Wales is now not just desirable, it is a must.

'If we cannot fully believe an innocent Mother's Day photograph, what's next? How long before we discover that the Crown Jewels are only paste and pinchbeck?

'If truth is compromised, credibility goes with it. Big mistake, Kate. Sorry to have to say so when you are unwell but this was not the way to do things.'

Earlier, Kate's uncle Gary Goldsmith defended the Waleses and claimed they would not have been responsible for altering the image.

The Celebrity Big Brother evictee said: 'Obviously the family wouldn't be the ones to do any touch-ups, so if that's gone through some filter before it's gone out to the broader world, but they wouldn't be doing photoshopping themselves.'

He told Good Morning Britain: 'The smiles on faces said it all for me, I thought it was beautiful.' Mr Goldsmith added: 'And this whole 'sleevegate' thing, just leave it alone.'

Royal author Omid Scobie, seen as a cheerleader for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, accused the Palace of having a 'long history of lying', and said gaining back public trust was now 'an almost impossible task'.

The PA news agency said it had withdrawn the image of Kate from its picture service

As well as PA, five other picture agencies around the world have taken the extraordinary step of killing the photo of Princess Kate

Scobie wrote on X that if it was an isolated incident, it was an 'unfortunate error'.

He added: 'But with the Palace's long history of lying, covering up, and even issuing statements on behalf of family members without their permission (cc: Prince Harry), it's becoming increasingly difficult for the public to believe a word (and now photo) they share.

'Gaining that back at this point is an almost impossible task.'

The princess is known to be a keen photographer and revealed in 2021 that she takes so many family photographs that her children sometimes object.

'Everyone's like, 'Mummy, please stop taking photographs',' she said.

The image of Kate and her children, said by the palace to have been taken by Prince William, was posted on social media.

Without an official response from the palace, confusion around the image had fuelled online conspiracy theories about Kate which have swirled on the internet since her abdominal surgery.

Ahead of Kate making her statement, royal commentator Peter Hunt said: 'This is damaging for the royals. They knew there would be intense interest in any picture they released of Kate.

'Their challenge is that people will now question whether they can be trusted and believed when they next issue a health update.'

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 Princess of Wales has not been seen since she attended the Christmas Day church service

The Prince and Princess of Wales's annual Christmas card image with their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, appeared to have a Photoshop fail

William has been stepping up royal engagements in Kate's absence. Pictured: Prince William and Princess Kate are seen at a  ceremonial welcome for the President and the First Lady of the Republic of Korea at Horse Guards Parade on November 21 last year

Kate left hospital on January 29 and returned to Adelaide Cottage in Windsor to be reunited with her children almost two weeks after having the surgery. Pictured: Kate and William in September 2022 

Within hours of the photo being shared around the world, multiple picture agencies issued a 'kill notification' - an industry term used to retract a photo previously handed out to publications.

Late on Sunday, the Associated Press became the first agency to 'kill' the photo over an 'inconsistency in the alignment of Princess Charlotte's left hand'.

While AP said there was no suggestion the photo was fake, it retracted it because it said on closer inspection, the source had manipulated the image in a way that did not meet the agency's photo standards.

AP said its editorial standards state that images must be accurate and that it does not use altered or digitally manipulated images.

The agency's news values and principles explain that minor photo editing, including cropping and toning and colour adjustments, are acceptable when necessary for clear and accurate reproduction and should maintain the authentic nature of the photograph.

Changes in density, contrast, colour and saturation levels that substantially alter the original scene are not acceptable. Backgrounds should not be digitally blurred or eliminated by burning down or by aggressive toning. The removal of 'red eye' from photographs is not permissible.

When AP determined the photo appeared to have been manipulated, it issued what is known as a 'photo kill,' an industry term that retracted the image and instructed clients to remove the photo from their systems.

'At closer inspection it appears that the source has manipulated the image,' the AP said in its advisory. 'No replacement photo will be sent.'

A second agency, Reuters, also withdrew the image 'following a post-publication review'. 'We are reviewing the matter,' a spokesperson said.

Readers on X added a community note to a post from the Prince and Princess of Wales' account which shared the photo.

It said: 'This photo is believed to be digitally altered and as a result many major news outlets have pulled the image from their reports.'

The photo of the princess is the first released since she was admitted to the London Clinic, the private hospital where the King underwent treatment for an enlarged prostate, for a planned operation on January 16.

Charles, 75, visited his daughter-in-law's bedside after being admitted himself on January 26, the 11th day of Kate's stay.

She was also visited by her husband, William.

Kate left the hospital on January 29, almost two weeks later, and returned to Adelaide Cottage in Windsor.

Details of the princess's condition have not been disclosed but Kensington Palace said it was not cancer-related and that Kate wished her personal medical information to remain private.

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.

Earlier this month the Army was forced into an embarrassing about-turn after suggesting Kate would attend Trooping the Colour on June 8.

Tickets were being sold for the event, with Kate expected to attend in her role as Colonel of the Irish Guards, the regiment which is trooping its colour this year.

However, it is understood the Army did not seek approval from Kensington Palace before publishing the page, and the website was subsequently updated to remove the reference to her.