The image was intended to allay concerns about Kate’s health since, just after turning 42 in January, she briefly visited the hospital for stomach surgery.
The princess has since been captured on camera grinning and appearing content when out shopping with her husband Prince William, but The Sun’s footage was released because the altered photo sparked absurd conspiracy theories both here and in the US.
According to a News study, there were over 2,600 mentions of “Kate Middleton” in the US on Facebook and Instagram the day before the picture was made public (9 March). On March 11, the day her photo was made public, there were almost 128,000 mentions.
