Princess Kate’s Mother’s Day photoshop fiasco was simply the result of the future Queen making “minor adjustments” to the picture, one royal expert said as a friend of the Princess of Wales said she “would likely be upset” by the unintended drama.

The image of Kate and her children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis posing for a Mother’s Day snap was intended to quell speculation over her whereabouts, as the Princess has not been seen in public since Christmas Day last year.

Kensington Palace put out a statement on January 17 explaining that Kate had undergone major abdominal surgery at a London clinic the day before and would be out of action until Easter at the earliest.

She was discharged from hospital after nearly two weeks and has been recovering at home in Windsor ever since, with Sunday’s post her first since she was taken ill.

However, hours after it was uploaded on official royal social media channels, a number of photo agencies, including PA, Getty and AFP, “killed” the image over fears it had been altered.

Speaking to the Mirror, one friend of Kate said the picture saga “would likely be upset by the furore caused by what was supposed to be an innocent family photograph”.

Closer inspection of the picture confirmed there were many details that did not make sense, including Charlotte’s jumper sleeve and skirt not aligning properly, blurriness around the pattern of other clothing and Kate’s zip being too far to one side.

Analysis of the picture’s metadata also revealed that the Photoshop tool had been used, with some experts questioning whether AI had been involved.

Photoshop expert Stephen Davies told The Sun that it was not unusual for people to take several different pictures and blend them together to get the best shot, speculating that this may have been what Kate had done.

The Princess of Wales publicly admitted to editing the photo herself, although she insisted it was just a bit of harmless experimentation.

She said in a statement: “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.”

One source said: “The princess made minor adjustments, as she shared in her statement on social media. The Wales family spent Mother’s Day together and had a wonderful day.”

However Kensington Palace has now sparked further debate by stating it would not release the original un-edited version, leading many to question why.