Kensington Palace took 13 hours to explain Kate Middleton's edited photo. People aren't convinced.

• Kate Middleton apologized for editing a family photo after media agencies recalled the image.
• She said she "occasionally" experiments with editing after photo agencies noted digital alterations.
• It was the first official image of Kate since her absence, which has sparked conspiracy theories.

Kate Middleton has apologized for editing a photo showing her with her three children around 13 hours after major photo agencies recalled the image over concerns it had been digitally altered.

In a tweet from Kensington Palace's X account, published on Monday, the Princess of Wales said: "Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing."

Kate added: "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 the statement with the initial C, for Catherine.

But the explanation won't be enough to halt the concerns of royal watchers, according to Jack Royston, a royal commentator and podcast host.

"Kate's tone in the Twitter post is breezy, which will cut against the suggestion there's a crisis. In reality though, this was the worst possible time to be caught photoshopping a picture as conspiracy theorists have been suggesting Kensington Palace has been hiding something major," he told Business Insider.

"The only way out now is to either publish the original image or release a video of Kate talking to camera, otherwise the palace's reputation as a trustworthy source of information will lie in ruins," he added.

Chris Ship, a royal editor at ITV in the UK, wrote on X: "The way to close everything down would be to release the original photo on which Kate decided to 'experiment with editing'. That's very unlikely, mind you ..."

A spokesperson for Republic, the UK's anti-monarchy group, wrote on X that Kate's statement was "not an explanation, it's a press office attempt to say as little as possible."

"Assuming 'C' is Kate Middleton admitting to editing the image ... seems like she's just been thrown under the bus by Prince William and Kessington Palace," Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, a political and women's rights activist and royal commentator, wrote on X.

"Honestly, they should sack their PR team," she added.

The photo was shared on Sunday morning, which coincided with Mother's Day in the United Kingdom.

It followed Kate's lengthy absence from the public eye after the Princess of Wales underwent a "planned abdominal surgery" in January.

She hadn't been photographed or spotted in public for weeks, causing a public frenzy and sparking conspiracy theories, until TMZ published a photo showing a sunglasses-clad Kate in the car with her mother.

The Mother's Day photo was the first official photo of Kate published since her prolonged absence.

However, social media users quickly noted some peculiarities, such as blurring on the cuff of Princess Charlotte's cardigan.

News agencies started to issue kill notifications over the photo, an unprecedented move, with AP noting: "It appears that the source has manipulated the image."

Reuters, Agence France-Press, and, most recently, the Press Association have also recalled the image over concerns it had been altered.