So Many People Think This Photo Of Kate Middleton And Her Kids Is Edited That News Outlets Have Pulled The Image From Its Systems And Archives

Ya'll, I'm sorry. You KNOW I try to ride for the Royals whenever I can. I think as people they got a raw deal in "being human beings," and generally just need a new PR person to fix their images and we can all move on. Instead of that, though, we have this never ending mystery concerning Kate Middleton. First it felt like she was missing for too long, and then this "mysterious" photo of her through a car windshield came out (nobody was fooled.) Now yesterday, Mother's Day in the UK, the official Kate & William instagram account put out this photo:

All day long everyone has been claiming it's edited, photoshopped, AI, anything other than "real." I'm in complete agreement that I didn't think it was a recent photo in any way, but I also didn't want to get bogged down too far with the conspiracy theorists. Until I saw this thread that completely changed my mind:

I'm perfectly aware of how insane this all sounds!! What are we doing here, are we so full of hate that we can't let a family celebrate Mother's Day without accusing them of faking it? No, we aren't. We ARE however, too perceptive for our own good and unfortunately, whoever was in charge of getting this photo out onto the presses, didn't specialize in graphic design.

After all the discourse and clear proof, it seems AP and Reuters were in the camp of "killing it" for their news articles:

Major photo agencies have pulled a new image of the Princess of Wales from circulation over concerns it was "manipulated" by "the source".

The image was circulated by a number of picture agencies on Sunday before Reuters, Associated Press (AP), Getty Images and Agence France-Presse (AFP) told media outlets to "kill" the photo from their systems and archives.

AP has told Sky News the photo shows an "inconsistency in the alignment of Princess Charlotte's left hand".

The picture in question was released to celebrate Mother's Day and shows Kate surrounded by her and Prince William's three children: Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

Kensington Palace has declined to comment after the photo was pulled by picture agencies.

How am I supposed to argue with this?? How can I ignore this, when I have done nothing but defend the Royals for years, even when they don't deserve defending?? If I'm putting on my Drama Detector hat, I'm angling past all the bullshit and heading right to the bullseye - divorce. It's no secret that William and Kate haven't had the best of times, and to me this looks like a half ass attempt to keep up appearances. As usual, only time will tell.