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Whoopi Goldberg has defended the Princess of Wales after she was forced to apologize for digitally editing a photograph of herself and her three children that was released to mark Mother's Day in Britain on Sunday.
After receiving backlash on Monday, Kate issued a rare personal statement apologizing for "any confusion" over the image, which was officially released through (and later taken offline by) the Press Association and other outlets, saying that "like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing."
The princess has faced increased scrutiny in recent weeks as she has been taking time out of the public eye to recover from abdominal surgery she underwent in January.
Covered in the "Hot Topics" item of The View on Monday, the princess and her photograph were debated by co-hosts Goldberg, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin, Ana Navarro and Alyssa Farah.
"I'm sorry...I know very few people who don't manipulate their own photo," Goldberg said in defense of Kate. "I mean, all you gotta do is swipe, those editors swipe pictures, and none of those people look like they're supposed to look."
When Hostin speculated that Kate wouldn't be taking and editing her own selfies as a "future queen," Goldberg responded: "She may be the future queen, she's still an amateur photographer. That's what they do."
After being told Prince William was credited with taking the photo, the star noted that "it doesn't change the fact that she said, listen, 'I manipulated the pictures. I'm sorry.'"
Navarro agreed with her co-host, saying: "If manipulating pictures was a crime the Kardashians, my best friend and I would be in jail for the rest of our lives."
Despite this, former White House communications director Farah highlighted that Kate's image editing at a time where speculation about the royal is high only raises more questions.
"There are very genuine concerns over her well-being," she said. "And I don't wanna speculate but when you put something out like this that doesn't meet like Reuters or the Associated Press editorial standards, it feeds fuel to the fire of conspiracies."
Since Kate's photo apology was issued, Kensington Palace hasn't commented any further on the incident or the speculation that has surrounded the princess and her health in recent weeks.
Since she underwent abdominal surgery in January, the royal is said to be doing "well" in her recovery. An initial timeline given suggested that she would not return to public duties until "after Easter."
The last public sighting of the princess was on Monday afternoon. She was photographed leaving Windsor with Prince William to attend a private appointment in London.
Newsweek approached Kensington Palace via email for comment.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more