Whoopi Goldberg fiercely defends Kate Middleton over claims she ‘stepped in it’ with edited Mother’s Day photo-Rishma Dosani-Entertainment – Metro

The View panel was whipped into a frenzy over a discussion concerning Kate Middleton’s edited Mother’s Day photo, with Whoopi Goldberg rushing to her defense.

The entire world appears to have gone into meltdown after the Princess of Wales posted an official picture with her children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, taken by Prince William.

It marked the first portrait released by the Royal family after the 42-year-old underwent abdominal surgery in January, and the first time she had been seen following the operation, but eagle-eyed internet sleuths pointed out issues with the image.

They spotted editing around Princess Charlotte’s clothing, the foliage in the background and the lack of a wedding ring, with speculation reaching fever pitch when noted picture agencies announced that they would be withdrawing the image from their services over apparent manipulation.

This led to an apology from Kate over the ‘confusion’, and an explanation that she had been ‘experimenting with editing’.

Amid further confusion, the stars of the View were among those sharing their thoughts on today’s instalment.

Kate Middleton said she edited a picture of herself and her children (Picture: Prince of Wales/Kensington Palace/PA Wire)

Photo agencies withdrew the picture over apparent manipulation (Picture: Reuters)

Whoopi led the way, telling her colleagues: ‘I’m sorry, I know very few people who don’t manipulate their own photographs. All you’ve got to do is swipe, none of those people look like they’re supposed to look.

‘She’s doing the same thing.’

Hitting back, Sunni Hostin claimed that Kate is the ‘future queen’, so would not be ‘taking selfies with her family’.

‘I have to tell you, she may be the future queen, she’s still an amateur photographer. That’s what they do,’ the Ghost actress argued. ‘I’m sure none of you have ever tamped with your own…

Whoopi Goldberg leapt to Kate’s defense in a heated debate (Picture: ABC)

‘It doesn’t change the fact that she said, “Listen, I manipulated the pictures. I’m sorry.”’

Her co-star attempted to lighten things up, joking that if photo manipulation was a crime, everyone would be ‘in jail for the rest of our lives’, but Whoopi was having none of it.

‘Didn’t I just say that this is something everyone does? Didn’t I just say that people do this all the time?,’ she spat.

Alyssa Farah Griffin then suggested that Kate had ‘stepped in it’ with her actions, and needed to share a video explanation with the public.

The rest of the panel weren’t convinced by Whoopi’s arguments (Picture: ABC)

‘She did step in it, though, because are very genuine concerns over her wellbeing,’ she continued. ‘I don’t want to speculate but when you put something out like this that doesn’t meet Reuters or Associated Press editorial standards, it feeds fuel to the fire of conspiracies.

‘I think, even if she’s recovering, she needs to do a “to video”.’

Batting away Alyssa’s remarks, Whoopi furiously concluded: ‘No, that’s the thing, she doesn’t need to do it!’

Ana Navarro ended the discussion by insisting that the debate surrounding the photo was ‘cuckoo-crazy’, adding: ‘Who’s got the eyesight and time?’

Kate shared a message on Twitter earlier today, addressing the edits (Picture: Backgrid)

The scenes come after weeks of social media rumors and chatter regarding Kate’s whereabouts, following her recent operation.

While Kensington Palace emphasized her right to privacy amid her ongoing recovery, Prince William returned to royal duties, but wasn’t drawn on the rising interest.

The Mother’s Day social media post was seen by some as an attempt to halt the speculation once and for all, but has only provided the public with more questions.

Kate made a rare statement on social media earlier today to address the edits to the portrait, explaining: ‘Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing.

‘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’

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