In the last couple weeks, the British people had began to murmur that maybe Kate Middleton is dead (among other conspiracy theories), so what does Kensington Palace do? Release a doctored fake image of the Princess in great health alongside her children for Mother’s Day:

This being the AI/photoshop era, it didn’t take long for the internet to pick out a few odd details and inconsistences with the image. No rings, all the kids with their fingers crossed, but especially the weird blurring on Princess Charlotte’s cuffs:

Most damningly, major news agencies including the Associated Press, Getty Images and Reuters, have acknowledged that there are ‘digital alterations’ to the image and have pulled the photograph from circulation.

Aside from Princess Charlotte’s dissolving left-hand sleeve, Kate’s right hand also appears to be blurred, while a wall near Louis’ leg appears to disconnect:

Kensington Palace has refused to comment on the accusations of photo manipulation, which isn’t a great look considering how vague and secretive they continue to be on Kate’s condition and whereabouts. What’s the point of doctoring an image of Kate and her kids when they could just release the real thing? It’s especially suspicious following that photo of “Kate” that was leaked in the passenger seat of her mum’s car the other week.

So what the hell is going on exactly? As we’ve said from the beginning, chances are that Kate Middleton is just laying low until Easter as she said she would be doing from the beginning when the initial reports of her scheduled abdominal surgery were announced. I guess maybe all the conspiracy theories doing the rounds (particularly the BBL one), prompted them into action to try and quell the noise. Except it’s totally backfired and now everyone is more certain than ever that something isn’t quite right with Kate and/or the Royals. Great stuff, Kensington Palace! I guess they’ll have to come up with something more convincing next time.

For the Italian prince who recently renounced the throne to his 19-year-old Instagram model daughter, click HERE. What a time to be alive.