19 Mar 2024

Princess of Wales seen in public after farm shop visit

11:12 am on 19 March 2024
Catherine, Princess of Wales with her children, Prince Louis, Prince George and Princess Charlotte.

Kensington Palace released this photo to mark Mother's Day in the United Kingdom, but it was withdrawn by press agencies due to concerns it had been heavily edited. Photo: Kensington Palace / via X

The Princess of Wales has been photographed after visiting a farm shop, in her first appearance since having surgery.

The video showed Kate and Prince William walking from the Windsor Farm Shop shop on Saturday, TMZ reported.

The couple appeared to be smiling and chatting as they carried shopping bags towards the carpark of the business near their home in Berkshire.

The visit follows controversy over a family photo of the princess with her three children which was pulled by international photo agencies after it was revealed to have been edited.

The Princess of Wales apologised "for any confusion" after she said she edited the Mother's Day snap.

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

Five photo agencies retracted the image of the Princess of Wales with her children over editing concerns.

In her statement on X, formerly Twitter, the Princess of Wales 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."

The apology, posted to social media, came from the official account of the Prince and Princess of Wales, but it has the personal sign off of "C", for Catherine.

The princess underwent abdominal surgery in January with the royal family announcing she would be taking a break from public life until Easter as she recovered.

The Palace has shared few details about her condition, which has garnered significant social media speculation, but has said it is not cancer-related.

At the time of her hospital stay, the Palace said the princess wanted her personal medical information to remain private, adding she wanted to "maintain as much normality for her children as possible".

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