Kate Middleton the subject of trending hashtag as cheating rumours swirl

A new hashtag is circulating on social media in support of Kate Middleton, following the fall-out from her disastrous Mother's Day photo.

In case you've somehow missed the drama, the Princess of Wales - who underwent abdominal surgery in January and has barely been seen in public since Christmas - shared a photo on Mother's Day of her and her three kids and it was promptly 'killed' by AP who issued a statement saying, "At closer inspection, it appears that the source has manipulated the image."

Kate then took to her Instagram to share a story explaining the mishap writing, "Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion with the family photograph we shared yesterday caused.

"I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother's Day," she added, signing off simply with, "C."

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There were plenty of conspiracies swirling around the photo controversy, with some suggesting that Kate had Photoshopped her 2016 Vogue cover into the portrait. Others were also confused as to why Prince William was given the photo credit, yet Kate was the one taking responsibility for the editing fail.

Rumours that Prince William cheated

On top of all of that, unsubstantiated rumours are now also circulating that William may have cheated on his wife with his longtime friend Rose Hanbury.

Now, a new hashtag is trending on Twitter/X as people show their support for the Princess and call out the media for 'bullying'.

"Why do you hate Kate so much?," one person wrote. "I don't get it. Everyone edits their pictures. Why do you keep pushing the issue? Let it go! #IStandWithCatherine"

"American media is playing a game posting articles about Rose," another said. "These media people are shameless. Doesn't realise that there are real people involved with real emotions. They have children below the age of 10. Pathetic opportunistic media #IStandWithCatherine."

"How low can you go bullying the Princess of Wales. You’re a piece of trash, apologise," one angry user wrote to Stephen Colbert who had made light of the situation on The Late Show. "You suffered hurt when you were a child, imagine Prince George, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte hearing about this. #StopBullyingCatherine #IStandWithCatherine"

Someone else chimed in with, "The Princess of Wales is recovering from major surgery and the mainstream media chooses now to bring up Prince William affair rumours!? These people are sick."

Of course, not everyone was using the hashtag in support of Catherine, with some choosing to add the hashtag to draw attention to the fact the hysteria is getting a little out of hand.

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"The conspiracy theories about her health, the hysteria over a picture..." one Twitter user wrote. "I wonder what will happen when she finally starts working again??? I think, there will be riots to check if it's really her!!!! People are getting crazier everyday!"

Another person aptly pointed out that all of the concern was terribly misplaced in light of the far more serious issues happening in other parts of the world - and the fact that the hashtag itself has been co-opted from the plight to draw attention to the horrors currently taking place in Gaza.

"The fact that there are thousands of accounts concerned about Middleton & #IStandWithCatherine is trending above everything including the murder of 10s of 1000s of Palestinians many of them children is absolutely mind-blowing to me," someone wrote. "I will see you all later. This is beyond me.'

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