Kensington Palace refuses to release Kate Middleton’s original Mother’s Day photo after botched release

It’s a royal mess.

Kensington Palace has reportedly refused to release the original unedited version of Kate Middleton’s UK Mother’s Day portrait with her children, after Middleton, 42, took the blame for the photo fiasco, according to the Daily Mail.

On Sunday, multiple photo agencies, including Reuters, the Associated Press, Getty and Agence France-Presse, withdrew the Mother’s Day photo Kensington Palace released Sunday picturing Middleton and her three children over fears that it had been digitally “manipulated.”

A “kill notification” reportedly released by AP read, “At closer inspection, it appears that the source has manipulated the image.”

The photo — the first official image released by Kensington Palace since the princess’s abdominal surgery in January — showed her smiling alongside Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5.

On Monday, the Princess of Wales apologized for releasing a doctored family photo of her and her children, blaming it on amateur editing fails.

“Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” the princess wrote. “I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused.”

She ended by saying, “I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day” — which was Sunday in the UK — and ending casually with “C,” for her first name, Catherine.

Middleton has been mysteriously absent for over two months.

Middleton got abdominal surgery in January. She’s reportedly on the mend, and she has been recovering behind closed doors since being discharged from the hospital on Jan. 29.

Since then, William has attended many events without his wife, including the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards, and he also hung out with “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” star and Wrexham AFC co-owner Rob McElhenney.

Kensington Palace said when it announced Middleton’s surgery that she would not be participating in any royal engagements after her planned, unspecified medical procedure.

“The surgery was successful, and it is expected that she will remain in hospital for 10 to 14 days before returning home to continue her recovery,” read a statement. “Based on the current medical advice, she is unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter.”

That early statement from the palace hasn’t stopped conspiracy theories about Middleton’s whereabouts from taking over the internet.

A Spanish news outlet reported Middleton was in “great danger” after being put in a “coma” following her abdominal surgery. Sources told The Post that the report is “wholly inaccurate.”

Amid the conspiracy theories, in response, Kensington Palace made it clear they would “only be providing significant updates,” her rep told The Post. “That guidance stands.”

The rep added that the mom of three is “doing well.”

However, it hasn’t helped that several strange events have surrounded Middleton’s absence.

William has largely ignored questions about his wife’s condition and whereabouts.

On March 4, in pictures obtained by The Post, the Princess of Wales could be seen sitting during her first outing since January, in the passenger seat of an Audi being driven by her mom, Carole, near Windsor Castle.

But, her face was obscured by a pair of large sunglasses.

And now, there’s the recalled photo.

The pic was meant to put to bed some of the wild speculation swirling around the 42-year-old princess’s health, since she has barely been seen in public since her surgery. Instead it ended up stoking the fires and creating fresh speculation that the royal family may be hiding something.

“Cancelling all plans this afternoon as I’m now down a very deep rabbit hole,” one fan joked on X, formerly Twitter, referring to the edited photo of Middleton.

“I’m not generally into conspiracy theories but this Kate Middleton photo has got me feeling like a flat earther,” another fan said.

The Post reached out to Kensington Palace for comment.