First, thanks for pointing the tile out Jane! We are wanting to tile our back patio and front entrance and this is lovely tile that would look fine even in a Southwest home :) Second, this photo ticks all the boxes for me: Kate looks the same as she always did, no face lift, that same lovely smile but the fact that she is sitting in a straight-ish chair says that, yes, she is still recovering. But George has his arms around his mom which means the kiddos are able to hug their mom again. Their happy faces, that nothing could fake, tell the story, mom is fine, dad is hilarious (how many takes did William have to do to get this photo just right? "Papa, my eyes are closed! Papa the top of my head is cut off! Papa my hair isn't right! William, just take the photo and stop making goofy faces....") and all is well in the Wales world.
Happy UK Mother's Day to you, Jane. You get to celebrate again in May! Thank you for this post and thank you to your very wise husband for encouraging you. I, too, was happy to see this picture this morning, and to see the POW looking so well and happy. It is a nicely shot picture and I can just imagine Kate getting behind the camera to set up the shot and then handing William the camera. LOL
As I said in a previous post, I was on the fence about the picture with Carole being set up by the Palace. Now I am firmly on the side that it was not. Why would they have done that when Mother's Day was so close, and the plan was to release a picture?
Kate is very carefully posed leaning forward and dressed to conceal her abdominal area, so I think it’s recent. My first thought was skinny jeans - ouch! I wonder if they are old maternity jeans or otherwise adapted? It’s a lovely photo and the big smiles look so genuine.
I also thought she might have her old skinny maternity jeans on, to be more comfortable. Kate prides herself on being a fit and athletic woman. I can't imagine how difficult it might be for her planning what to wear to upcoming engagements if she needs to wear looser styles or a bigger size for awhile. She is a beautiful woman and I hope she can focus on getting well and how much she is loved and not on any temporary physical changes from the surgery
If you were on the fence about whether or not this photo was recent or taken last fall, look behind Kate and the children. The shrubbery is budding out, and that grass is spring green!! Lovely photo. Thank you for posting!
Thanks for the Mother’s Day wishes, especially as my son lives in the US and he always forgets too!
I was thrilled to see this happy photo of the Princess and her children. I noticed her slightly forward leaning pose, as if to hide her abdominal area, which is fair enough.
I am happy to see this pic of Kate, but I was reminded just how much of toll this health issue must be. To me, she looks incredibly frail, and this is evident in her legs around the thigh area - even though she’s sitting and bearing her weight on the chair, her legs are so incredibly thin. I am concerned for her and truly hope all is ok.
Not a moment too soon for this picture. Hopefully this will quiet the restless royal reporter story vacuum. Possibly a tidbit thrown out there a couple of weeks ago by the KP PR team might have been in the nick of time to settle the crazy last two conspiratorial weeks down. However KP gave ample Intel about exactly what their plans were per the POWales and that should have been enough. At least in ‘ ‘normal’ times!
Catherine looks beautiful and happy but I agree with those who note she seems frail. The pose and the way the children are touching her seems too be careful of her abdomen too. On another note entirely, I can’t believe how fast the children are growing. Louis no longer has any baby left to his looks and the two older are so grownup looking. I love the tiles and seeing a bit of Adelaide too!
I noticed the tile immediately as well! I agree with those noting that her pose seems a bit ginger. I do wish they hadn’t felt that releasing a photo was necessary, and I do still maintain it wouldn’t have been had their comms team been more proactive and had William been out & about a bit more and perhaps not canceled on King Constantine’s memorial at the last moment. But it’s lovely to see her and the children look genuinely happy.
Thank you for posting this. It’s been lovely to read along with the kind and sensible comments after some of the ridiculous comments attached to the UK Telegraph’s coverage of the photo. I found all the conspiracy theories both hilarious and disturbing. Everyone looks happy and that is great to see.
That tile is similar to some in my church. The cottage was built in the 1830’s and my church in about 1860 so maybe it was a trendy style / design during that time.
Well, this is bizarre. Apparently some news agencies are pulling the photo because they believe it to be manipulated.
“Update: On Sunday, according to multiple reports, at least three international photo agencies, including the Associated Press (AP) Reuters, Agence France-Press, and Getty Images, removed the image for publication. According to Chris Ship of ITV, the agencies believed the photo to have been “manipulated.” Vanity Fair did not republish the image in question. Kensington Palace did not immediately respond to Vanity Fair's request for comment. At the time of this update, the image was still posted to the @princeandprincessofwales Instagram account.”
This is sick. If I were William and Catherine I would respond "If you want to see photos of us, please look at our Instagram page. The rest of you, please don't bother." I'm no PR person but I and many others will follow them whether they are published on certain sites or not. And for people who don't follow them, then it's no loss.
My first thought when seeing the picture was that Kate's head looked way too big and like it was just stuck there in the middle of the picture, but I figured it was just the angle that she was sitting. Beautiful picture of her and the kids!
First, thanks for pointing the tile out Jane! We are wanting to tile our back patio and front entrance and this is lovely tile that would look fine even in a Southwest home :) Second, this photo ticks all the boxes for me: Kate looks the same as she always did, no face lift, that same lovely smile but the fact that she is sitting in a straight-ish chair says that, yes, she is still recovering. But George has his arms around his mom which means the kiddos are able to hug their mom again. Their happy faces, that nothing could fake, tell the story, mom is fine, dad is hilarious (how many takes did William have to do to get this photo just right? "Papa, my eyes are closed! Papa the top of my head is cut off! Papa my hair isn't right! William, just take the photo and stop making goofy faces....") and all is well in the Wales world.
Happy UK Mother's Day to you, Jane. You get to celebrate again in May! Thank you for this post and thank you to your very wise husband for encouraging you. I, too, was happy to see this picture this morning, and to see the POW looking so well and happy. It is a nicely shot picture and I can just imagine Kate getting behind the camera to set up the shot and then handing William the camera. LOL
As I said in a previous post, I was on the fence about the picture with Carole being set up by the Palace. Now I am firmly on the side that it was not. Why would they have done that when Mother's Day was so close, and the plan was to release a picture?
Kate is very carefully posed leaning forward and dressed to conceal her abdominal area, so I think it’s recent. My first thought was skinny jeans - ouch! I wonder if they are old maternity jeans or otherwise adapted? It’s a lovely photo and the big smiles look so genuine.
Maternity skinny jeans is a great observation! The top she's wearing seems to be loose fitting, so certainly a possibility.
I also thought she might have her old skinny maternity jeans on, to be more comfortable. Kate prides herself on being a fit and athletic woman. I can't imagine how difficult it might be for her planning what to wear to upcoming engagements if she needs to wear looser styles or a bigger size for awhile. She is a beautiful woman and I hope she can focus on getting well and how much she is loved and not on any temporary physical changes from the surgery
That smile on her face shows just how much love she has for her family. It’s the light in her eyes - she’s glowing.
If you look at other photos of her, at public events for example, she’s smiling but it’s just not the same.
This is just such a lovely and warm photo.
If you were on the fence about whether or not this photo was recent or taken last fall, look behind Kate and the children. The shrubbery is budding out, and that grass is spring green!! Lovely photo. Thank you for posting!
Thanks for the Mother’s Day wishes, especially as my son lives in the US and he always forgets too!
I was thrilled to see this happy photo of the Princess and her children. I noticed her slightly forward leaning pose, as if to hide her abdominal area, which is fair enough.
I also noticed the lovely Victorian tiles!
I am happy to see this pic of Kate, but I was reminded just how much of toll this health issue must be. To me, she looks incredibly frail, and this is evident in her legs around the thigh area - even though she’s sitting and bearing her weight on the chair, her legs are so incredibly thin. I am concerned for her and truly hope all is ok.
Not a moment too soon for this picture. Hopefully this will quiet the restless royal reporter story vacuum. Possibly a tidbit thrown out there a couple of weeks ago by the KP PR team might have been in the nick of time to settle the crazy last two conspiratorial weeks down. However KP gave ample Intel about exactly what their plans were per the POWales and that should have been enough. At least in ‘ ‘normal’ times!
No dear Jane… today is not Mother’s Day in France (May 26th this year!).
Catherine looks beautiful and happy but I agree with those who note she seems frail. The pose and the way the children are touching her seems too be careful of her abdomen too. On another note entirely, I can’t believe how fast the children are growing. Louis no longer has any baby left to his looks and the two older are so grownup looking. I love the tiles and seeing a bit of Adelaide too!
I noticed the tile immediately as well! I agree with those noting that her pose seems a bit ginger. I do wish they hadn’t felt that releasing a photo was necessary, and I do still maintain it wouldn’t have been had their comms team been more proactive and had William been out & about a bit more and perhaps not canceled on King Constantine’s memorial at the last moment. But it’s lovely to see her and the children look genuinely happy.
Thank you for posting this. It’s been lovely to read along with the kind and sensible comments after some of the ridiculous comments attached to the UK Telegraph’s coverage of the photo. I found all the conspiracy theories both hilarious and disturbing. Everyone looks happy and that is great to see.
Great photo !
That tile is similar to some in my church. The cottage was built in the 1830’s and my church in about 1860 so maybe it was a trendy style / design during that time.
Well, this is bizarre. Apparently some news agencies are pulling the photo because they believe it to be manipulated.
“Update: On Sunday, according to multiple reports, at least three international photo agencies, including the Associated Press (AP) Reuters, Agence France-Press, and Getty Images, removed the image for publication. According to Chris Ship of ITV, the agencies believed the photo to have been “manipulated.” Vanity Fair did not republish the image in question. Kensington Palace did not immediately respond to Vanity Fair's request for comment. At the time of this update, the image was still posted to the @princeandprincessofwales Instagram account.”
https://www.vanityfair.com/style/kate-middleton-first-photo-surgery-mothers-day
This is sick. If I were William and Catherine I would respond "If you want to see photos of us, please look at our Instagram page. The rest of you, please don't bother." I'm no PR person but I and many others will follow them whether they are published on certain sites or not. And for people who don't follow them, then it's no loss.
They’re news agencies. They don’t post manipulated photos for ethical reasons, regardless of the source of the photo.
Here’s an article describing what was manipulated. It’s pretty minor, but I can understand why the news agencies pulled the photo.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/mar/11/princess-wales-says-her-edited-family-photo?CMP=oth_b-aplnews_d-1
My first thought when seeing the picture was that Kate's head looked way too big and like it was just stuck there in the middle of the picture, but I figured it was just the angle that she was sitting. Beautiful picture of her and the kids!
*See by Chloé
Has anyone identified Louis’s sweater? I love the pattern