New theories surrounding photographs of Kate Middleton leaving Windsor Castle with Prince William earlier this week have been debunked by the photographer who captured the images.
Middleton, who has been missing from the public eye for more than two months and is now at the forefront of a royal photo scandal, was pictured riding in the backseat of a vehicle alongside the Prince of Wales on Monday — only the second sighting of the Princess of Wales since Christmas Day.
Amateur Internet sleuths attempted to dissect the image after Middleton's Mother's Day photo was pulled from major photo agencies due to "manipulation" concerns.
Jim Bennett, the photographer who captured the image of Kate leaving the castle, was positioned on Datchet High Street to get an "early photo of Prince William heading to Westminster Abbey for the Commonwealth Day Service."
"We don't change our photos in Photoshop other than adjusting the light levels if necessary," Bennett told Fox News Digital.
KATE MIDDLETON PHOTO DATA REVEALS NEW DETAILS ABOUT EDITING OF CONTROVERSIAL PICTURE
Online speculation grew quickly after the image was released, with social media users implying the photo had been edited. Bennett, who works with Goff Photos, explained the difficulty in capturing shots of moving vehicles.
"Car shots are unpredictable at the best of times and with some reflection on the glass it can be difficult," he said.
"As it happened, it wasn’t until I checked on the back of the camera to make sure I had a frame of Prince William that I realized there was someone sitting next to him. It turned out to be Catherine!"
Middleton has remained out of the public eye since Dec. 25. She was admitted into the hospital for a planned abdominal surgery on Jan. 17, and prior to Monday, had only been spotted once since her hospitalization. Her new sighting came the day after the royal family photo drama.
Metadata from Middleton's Mother's Day photo revealed the image had been digitally altered multiple times before it was published on the official royal social media platforms, Fox News Digital confirmed.
KATE MIDDLETON SEEN WITH PRINCE WILLIAM BEFORE HE JOINED QUEEN CAMILLA AT COMMONWEALTH DAY EVENT
Information included in the photo data showed timestamps indicating the photo was first edited at 9:54 p.m. on Friday, March 8, in Photoshop. On March 9, the image was altered once again at 9:39 a.m.
The data does not indicate who exactly altered the image, although Middleton issued an apology for the confusion surrounding "editing" the family photo.
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"We don't have anything to add," the palace confirmed to Fox News Digital when asked for comments about the digitally altered photo.
On Sunday, the Princess of Wales shared a photo with her three children — Prince George, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte — to celebrate Mother's Day in the United Kingdom on the royal social media accounts.
"Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months," she wrote online. "Wishing everyone a Happy Mother’s Day. C"
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After the photo was released, eagle-eyed followers soon noticed the image appeared to be distorted. The Associated Press and other news agencies began pulling the image from their websites over concerns that it was "manipulated."
The Princess of Wales apologized one day later and admitted that the image shared online had been edited.
Middleton took to social media to issue a statement, writing, "Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. 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."
Earlier this month, a spokesperson for Kensington Palace told Fox News Digital: "Kensington Palace made it clear in January the timelines of the Princess’ recovery and we’d only be providing significant updates. The guidance in January stands that the Princess would be recuperating at home in Windsor."
The spokesperson reiterated the princess is "doing well."
The statement came amid a flurry of conspiracy theories that emerged on sites like X, formerly known as Twitter, and TikTok, with users speculating about the royal's whereabouts and health condition. The hashtag #WhereisKate previously went viral on the social media platforms.
