LONDON — The Princess of Wales has apologized "for any confusion" her Mother's Day photograph caused, after five agencies retracted it over editing concerns.

Catherine, in a statement posted on Kensington Palace social media, said: "Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing."

The image, taken by the Prince of Wales, was the first of Catherine to be released since her surgery in January.

PA, Getty Images, AFP, Reuters and Associated Press had removed the image.

In her statement on X, formerly Twitter, Catherine said: "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. C."

According to royal sources, there were "minor adjustments" made by the Princess of Wales to the picture that was put on to Kensington Palace social media.

It shows the princess sitting down, surrounded by Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis and Prince George, the latter wrapping his arms around her.

It was the first official photo of the Princess of Wales since her abdominal surgery two months ago. Since then she has stayed out of the public eye.

The image was posted with a message from Catherine which said: "Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months.

"Wishing everyone a Happy Mother's Day."

The photo was intended as an "amateur, family photograph" released to mark Mother's Day, say royal sources.

The implication is that this was not a piece of professional manipulation, but some tidying up of a picture capturing a family moment.

Except that this was not just a personal picture, it was going to be shared with the world, against a background in which it would inevitably be seen as an attempt to stop the speculation and conspiracy theories about Catherine, as she recovers from an operation.

Instead of providing an answer to such rumours it inadvertently ended up raising more questions.

Five photo agencies retracted the image over concerns it had been "manipulated". The Associated Press issued a "kill notification" - an industry term used to make a retraction - late on Sunday, saying: "At closer inspection it appears that the source has manipulated the image. No replacement photo will be sent."

Reuters said it too had withdrawn the image "following a post-publication review" and AFP also issued a "mandatory kill notice".

Getty Images became the fourth organization to retract the photograph. And PA said on Monday it had retracted the image, based on there being no clarification from Kensington Palace. — BBC