Kate Middleton is 'feeling miserable' after Mother's Day picture gaffe: Expert ... trends now

The Princess of Wales is in a 'fragile mental and physical state' and will be 'feeling miserable' amid the Mother's Day photo row, a royal expert claimed today as she urged for people to 'lay off her'.

Kate publicly took the blame for a manipulated family photograph released by Kensington Palace on Sunday as she issued an apology for the 'confusion'.

Royal commentator Jennie Bond suggested Kate 'must feel under intense pressure now whenever she's going to be seen in public' after her major surgery in January.

Also rallying round Kate today was royal expert Angela Levin who praised her for being 'honourable'. And Whoopi Goldberg urged the public to show restraint, saying: 'She may be the future Queen (but) she's still an amateur photographer.'

Despite calls for the original image to be published, Kensington Palace insisted it would not be reissuing the unedited photograph of Kate and her children.

And Ms Bond cautioned against 'bullying her into putting out all the images', adding that the 42-year-old mother-of-three would be feeling 'absolutely miserable'.

She said that Kate's Mother's Day was 'obviously ruined by this row' and she 'didn't look that happy' when photographed yesterday in a car with William.

Ms Bond told GB News: 'We are in danger of bullying a lady who is trying to recover from a very serious operation. I think of how she must be feeling this morning. Absolutely miserable, I think.

'Her Mother's Day was obviously ruined by this row. She was photographed yesterday in the car with William. From what we can see, she didn't look that happy, she must feel under intense pressure now whenever she's going to be seen in public.

'The pressure has doubled and redoubled. I think she's in a fragile mental and physical state. And we should lay off her.'

And fellow royal expert Angela Levin tweeted: 'People should be proud that Princess Catherine hasn't blamed any member of staff and realise how honourable she is.

'Harry and Meghan's supporters can stop saying they wouldn't have had a Photoshop fail and should take over. Jumping in when someone is unwell is dishonourable.'

It comes after further details emerged about the photo shoot, with William having taken the picture in just a 40-minute window on Friday before the Princess edited it twice in Photoshop to 'make it the best it can be'.

The Prince of Wales took the picture of his smiling family on a £2,900 Canon camera before Kate made edits to improve the photo ahead of its public release on Instagram on Sunday.

Kensington Palace aides are said to have spent weeks planning to release a photo of the Princess to quell vicious social media speculation about the nature of Kate's condition since her surgery in January, which has deeply upset and angered the couple.

Instead, the rare royal blunder resulted in another public explosion of conspiracy theories.

Six of the world's top picture agencies including the Press Association then sensationally pulled the photo from their wires and libraries amid concern that the 'source has manipulated the image'.

Amid the furore, the Princess later issued an extraordinary mea culpa on Twitter and Instagram, admitting she 'edited' the image - adding that she does 'occasionally experiment' as an 'amateur photographer' and apologising for 'any confusion' the image caused.

Kate is said to have felt that honesty was 'the best policy' and wanted to 'own up' to the Photoshop blunder. 

The Princess felt 'awful' about the picture and had been trying to make it the 'best it could be', insiders told The Times - adding that she was 'thinking of her own children when editing the picture, hoping that they looked good for their own sakes'.

Publicly taking the blame for the furore, the princess wrote yesterday: '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.'

Royal sources said the princess had made 'minor adjustments' to the picture, which she and her husband had hoped would be a lovely 'informal' shot to share on a special day.

'This was an amateur, family photograph. Their Royal Highnesses wanted to offer an informal picture of the family together for Mother's Day,' the source said.

'The Princess made minor adjustments as she shared in her statement on social media, the Wales family spent Mother's Day together and had a wonderful day.'

Despite calls for the original to be published, Kensington Palace said it would not be reissuing the unedited photograph of Kate and her children, which in itself sparked further debate.

Last night the palace faced growing pressure over the debacle with claims it has been damaging to public trust.

Palace aides did not spot any signs of Photoshop but it's not believed the edits were made aware to the princess' team before it became public.

However, questions have been raised over whether the picture was too good to be true. One red flag might have been the fact the beaming family portrait was shot in such a short time on Friday. 

The busy schedules of the Wales family meant the picture had to be taken while everyone

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