I don’t really follow the British royal family, but within the past few weeks I’ve grown from a casual observer to a full-blown conspiracy theorist. After the Kate Middleton disappearing memes took over my X/Twitter feed, I’ve been hyper-fixated on the goings on around the royal family. Seriously, I have so many questions about where the Princess of Wales has been (was she really getting a BBL, or?) and what the deal is with that Kate Middleton Mother’s Day photo. And I won’t rest until I find out all of it.
Now, if you’re confused, I’ll get you up to speed. In late February and early March 2024, the internet collectively realized that Kate Middleton had been out of the public eye for a while. And while the royal family confirmed that Kate has been in recovery following an abdominal surgery in January 2024, it didn’t stop the internet from memeing her disappearance. From the Willy Wonka immersive experience to secretly dating Pete Davidson, the internet had an absolute ball theorizing (jokingly, OFC) about Middleton’s whereabouts.
Here’s the thing, though: I don’t think the royal family liked this. Like, at all. Throughout the memeing period, Kensington Palace put out several statements asking for privacy as Middleton recovered from her surgery. And, hey, I’ll respect it. But when Middleton took to social media to share a Mother’s Day photo, the internet went from joking around to genuine concern.
Kate Middleton’s Mother’s Day photo sparked an IG investigation.
On March 10, Middleton posted a photo on her social platforms in celebration of Mother’s Day (which I just learned is on a different day than America’s. Am I an ignorant American?). “Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months. Wishing everyone a Happy Mother’s Day. C,” the Princes wrote on her shared account.
I know I’m not alone when I say this photo looks… off.
I wasn’t the only one who clocked this. The internet almost immediately noticed some storage discrepancies in the photo. For instance, there’s an area of her daughter’s sweater that’s vanishing into thin air (look at the cuff of her right sleeve) as well as a strange zipper placement on Middleton’s jacket. Oh, and the entire image looks computer-generated… at least in my opinion!
But that’s not all. Several news outlets and photo agencies removed the portrait from their verified photo libraries, as well as issuing kill notifications over the photo.
OK, what the hell is going on?
Was the Kate Middleton Mother’s Day photo AI?
I’ll squash the beef on behalf of the royal family: no! According to Photoshop experts, the strange mishaps in the photo look like a result of bad Photoshop, not artificial intelligence. Sure, Middleton might have used a generative AI tool to fix some errors in the original photo (like Google’s “Best Take” feature), but the portrait itself isn’t a product of computer generation. And, probably due to the photo’s backlash, Kate Middleton herself took to social media to clear up the conspiracies.
So, who edited that Mother’s Day photo of Kate Middleton? Turns out, it was the Princess all along. Gasp!
On March 11, Middleton released a statement on social media clearing up the confusion, and confessing to “experimenting” with editing.
Hey, as a girl who went through a heavy FaceTune phase in college, I’ve been there too, Kate. It’s safe to say that the conspiracy has been laid to rest… for now. If you’re in need of royal family updates in the future, I’m your girl, world.