Kate issues statement on St Patrick’s Day as friends say she may speak about health

The Prince and Princess of Wales intend to continue releasing photographs marking their children’s birthdays after Kate apologised for editing a family photo on Mother’s Day.

Prince Louis turns six on April 23 and sources close to the couple told The Sunday Times no “firm decision” has been taken yet on whether Kate will be behind the camera.

“They appreciate the public’s love and affection for their children and know there is a public appetite to see them on their birthdays,” an aide told the paper.

It comes after a family photo issued by Kensington Palace was withdrawn with a “Kill” notice by international picture agencies and the UK’s PA news agency.

Kate apologised after concerns were raised over a missing part of Princess Charlotte’s sleeve and the misaligned edge of her skirt, with other speculation including the positioning of Kate’s zip.

Kensington Palace declined to comment.

The Princess of Wales edited the infamous Mother’s Day photo because she was trying to make her family “look the best they can”, a friend claimed.

The picture issued by Kensington Palace was withdrawn with a “Kill” notice by international picture agencies and the UK’s PA news agency after concerns were raised over a missing part of Princess Charlotte’s sleeve and the misaligned edge of her skirt.

A source told The Sunday Times: “It’s a photo that she knew everyone would pore over so she pored over it herself — she likes trying to make the family look the best they can.”

Meghan Markle has surprised fans and onlookers this week by launching a new lifestyle brand, complete with a social media page and a website, reports Nicole Vassell.

On Thursday, the Duchess of Sussex’s newest venture, American Riviera Orchard, hit the internet, and has set tongues wagging with people trying to figure out what the brand will provide.

As of yet, the brand’s Instagram presence consists of nine grid posts that assemble the brand’s title, seemingly embroidered with gold-beige thread onto a cream cloth.

On Instagram Stories, a short video features Meghan arranging white flowers in a jug, before mixing ingredients in the kitchen, as the song “I Wish You Love” by Nancy Wilson plays in the background.

The website is similarly elusive – so far, the homepage only shows the same logo image with a prompt for interested fans to sign up to the waiting list for further updates.

In an interview with the BBC, Earl Spencer compared the situation to the attention his sister faced and said: “I think it was more dangerous back in the day.”

The aristocrat became a vocal critic of the press after Diana died in a car crash while being pursued by photographers in Paris in 1997.

He told the broadcasters: “The circumstances of [Diana’s] death were so shocking, that it did make the industry that supports the paparazzi really consider more carefully what it could and couldn’t do.”

The Prince and Princess of Wales were spotted looking “happy and healthy” at a farm shop near their Windsor home on Saturday, the Sun reports.

The trip out reportedly came after the pair spent the morning watching their children George, Charlotte and Louis take part in sports.

A witness at the farm shop one mile away from their Adelaide Cottage home told the paper: “After all the rumours that had been going round I was stunned to see them there. Kate was out shopping with William and she looked happy and she looked well.

“The kids weren’t with them but it’s such a good sign she was healthy enough to pop down to the shops.”

The sighting comes as the princess has been subject to unfounded conspiracy theories about her health in recent weeks.

She has been absent from the public eye as she continues her recovery from abdominal surgery she underwent in January.

Meghan Markle has unveiled her long-awaited lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard.

The soft launch saw Markle returning to Instagram (she deactivated her personal account shortly after her engagement to Prince Harry) for the first time in four years.

Daisy Lester takes a look at what you can expect from the brand:

Friends of the Princess of Wales say she may speak about her health on public engagements, it has been reported.

Kate underwent surgery at the London Clinic on January 16, but details of her condition have been kept private, and she is not expected to return to official duties until after Easter.

Those close to Kate and the Prince of Wales say the couple will disclose more information about her recovery in due course, according to The Sunday Times, which reports her return is expected after April 17.

A source told the newspaper: “They are at their most open when out interacting with members of the public and I can see a world in which the princess might discuss her recovery out on engagements. If she was going to do it, that’s how she would do it.”

A friend reportedly said: “They will want to be clear and more open, but they’ll do it when they feel ready. I would expect that to be her instinct and it will be her call. They’re not going to be rushed.”

Piers Morgan has weighed in on the Kate Middleton photo-editing conspiracy saying he has heard “alarming things.”

The outspoken broadcaster, 58, broached the matter on his show Uncensored yesterday, where he said Kate “could be fine and doing well” and said the Palace’s attempts to quash the conspiracy theories “got it wrong”, he later claimed “the Palace could be hiding something”.

Morgan said: “‘I’ve been told some stuff that, if even half of it is true, it’s pretty alarming what is happening. I don’t know what to believe, nor do any of us – we’re not there.”

The presenter clarified he could not confirm if what he had been informed was true.

Earl Spencer, the brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, has revealed their childhood nanny would “crack our heads together” if they misbehaved.

Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme about his upbringing after the release of his memoir, the 59-year-old said the punishment would be a “cracking crunch” that “really hurt”.

Earl Spencer said it emphasised the “disconnect of parents”, but he did not criticise his mother and father, saying it was “normal” to “leave it to the nanny to deal with”.

Speaking about the nanny, he said: “She used to crack our heads together, if we were both found to have done something naughty, obviously without my father’s knowledge, but it really hurt.

“It wasn’t a tap on the wrist, it was a cracking crunch, you know, and I remember it still.

“I think it emphasises again the disconnect of parents and I’m really, I’m not a critic of my parents, they did their best like 98% of parents do, and I think again, it was just normal, you leave it to the nanny to deal with this.”

The Irish Guards gave three cheers for their absent colonel, the Princess of Wales, during a St Patrick’s Day parade at Mons Barracks in Hampshire.

On Sunday, 250 Irish Guardsmen marched onto the Parade Square at the Aldershot barracks led by their mascot, a three-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Turlough Mor, also known as Seamus.

Kate, who has been colonel of the regiment for a year after officially taking over from her husband is still recovering from abdominal surgery in January and has not resumed her public duties.

William and Kate have attended several past parades together and she was pictured in the rain last year presenting mascot Seamus with the traditional sprig of shamrock before the couple enjoyed a glass of Guinness with the troops.

The British Army in London posted on X, formerly Twitter: “In keeping with tradition wherever they are in the world the @irish_guards give a rousing three cheers for the Colonel of the Regiment HRH the Princess of Wales at their St Patrick’s Day Parade in Aldershot.”

They removed their bearskin headdresses before giving three cheers of “hip hip hooray”.