Now, it was meant to reassure, but this photo of the Princess of Wales and her children has now been pulled from circulation by several of the world's biggest photo agencies over concerns that it has been manipulated.

The picture which was released by Kensington Palace yesterday for Mother's Day is the first official photo of the Princess since she had abdominal surgery in January. Our reporter, Simon Jones, has the very latest.

Released at nine o'clock yesterday morning by Kensington Palace to mark Mother's Day, a picture of the Princess of Wales surrounded by her children. The aim was to dampen speculation about Catherine's recovery from her recent abdominal surgery. But some people pointed out that the image looked odd, a view shared by several leading picture agencies which had initially sent out the photo worldwide. One of them said there was an inconsistency in the alignment of Princess Charlotte's left hand, meaning the image didn't reach the agency's standards.

Late last night, the Associated Press issued something called a kill notification, an industry term for a retraction. The reason it gave for killing the story is a closer inspection. It appears that the source has manipulated the image. No replacement photo will be sent. It says, Please remove it from all platforms, including social, where it may still be visible.

Another agency, Reuters, advised its customers, Please remove this image from your systems. That was following what it called a post-publication review. Afp Ngetti also withdraw the picture. Other commentators online said Prince Louis's hands didn't look right, and even that the tree in the background had too many leaves for this time of year. The last time Catherine was officially seen in public was on Christmas Day.

Thank you so much. That's very suited of you to come and say hello to us. Yeah, well, happy Christmas.

Weeks later, she was in hospital having abdominal surgery, though Kensington Palace made it clear it wouldn't give a running commentary on her condition or recovery. After a period of caring for his wife, Prince William has resumed royal duties, but against the backdrop of concern for Catherine.

This is a depleted royal family.

King Charles has still been pictured carrying out engagements, but few are the normal due to his cancer diagnosis.

Now this photo, designed to cool the conversation around the princess's recovery, seems to have had the opposite effect. Kensington Palace has so far declined to comment.