News Agencies Delete Kate Middleton Photo Citing 'Manipulated ...

Controversy has erupted in the U.K. after three international picture agencies — Reuters, the Associated Press and Agence France-Presse — withdrew the first official photograph of Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, following her unspecified “abdominal” surgery claiming irregularities with the image.

The photograph, which showed Kate (as she is informally known) sitting outdoors with her three children around her, was reportedly taken by Prince William last week to mark U.K. Mothers Day on Sunday.

Staff at Kensington Palace published it on the royal couple’s official social media pages on Sunday before issuing it to select press agencies for syndication, as is typical for images distributed by the royals.

Within hours, however, Reuters, AP and AFP had all issued “kill” notifications, taking down the photograph from their own databases and requesting that clients who had licensed the photograph also remove it from their publications.

In their notice AP said “The source has manipulated the image” while AFP cited an “editorial issue.” Reuters said it had withdrawn the photograph following a “post-publication review.”

Even before the photograph was withdrawn, it had sparked intense interest because it was the first time the Duchess had been seen in public since Christmas Day, when she attended church in Sandringham, U.K. along with her family.

On Jan. 17 Kensington Palace issued a statement saying she had undergone “planned abdominal surgery” which would require a further 10-day hospital stay but declined to specify the reason for the operation. They indicated Kate would not resume her royal duties — meaning public appearances — until after Easter, if not later. In February Prince William attended the BAFTA Film Awards alone.

Last week a paparazzi photograph emerged of Kate and her mother in a car, with Kate in the passenger seat. The blurry picture, in which the duchess is wearing large sunglasses, did little to assuage the public’s concern about her welfare.

Whispers that Kate might attend the annual military parade Trooping the Color, during which the Royal Family always appear on the balcony at Buckingham Palace, were swiftly shot down by the palace last week, causing rumors about the cause of Kate’s prolonged absence from the public eye to intensify.

The image issued on Sunday to commemorate Mothers Day was initially welcomed by the U.K. press and public, showing Kate looking well. But online commentators soon identified a number of discrepancies, such as an inconsistency in the alignment of Princess Charlotte’s hand and skirt and the zip on Kate’s sweater. According to the U.K. press, the palace has declined to comment on either the photograph or the reaction of the photo agencies.

The Duchess’s medical leave has come at a particularly tricky time for the British Royal Family after her father-in-law King Charles was also recently diagnosed with cancer. He is currently undergoing treatment.

Variety has reached out to Kensington Palace for comment.