Prince William's surprising joke about Kate Middleton amid Photoshop scandal

Prince William has made a joke about Kate Middleton that appears to be in reference to her Photoshop scandal.

During an appearance at a youth centre in London on Thursday, William told the group that his "wife is the arty one".

Kate and William released a portrait featuring the Princess of Wales with their three children for Mother's Day in the UK last week, however, it went viral for all the wrong reasons.

Photo agency AP retracted the photo of the Princess of Wales with her three children on Sunday, saying, "At closer inspection, it appears that the source has manipulated the image."

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Kate confirmed the photo had been edited, taking to her Instagram Stories to share an unprecedented statement that read, "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."

The photo was the first official photo of Kate shared since she underwent abdominal surgery in January. The Princess had not been seen in public since Christmas Day until earlier this month.

While Prince William didn't directly address the scandal, it was interesting to hear him mention his wife's art skills.

While speaking to some children while decorating biscuits, William told them, "My wife is the arty one. Even my children are artier than me."

Royal expert claims Kate is likely in a 'fragile mental' state

It comes after a royal expert has claimed Kate is likely in a "fragile mental and physical state," and "feeling miserable" after coming clean about the Photoshopped image.

"She must be feeling absolutely miserable," royal reporter Penny Junor told GB News, adding that she believed the speculation about Kate's whereabouts following her surgery was in danger of becoming "bullying".

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While the public has called for the unedited image to be released, it's unlikely this will ever happen.

"Obviously, the palace never want to feel pressured or pushed into doing something," Penny said. "I do think that it would be a good idea do a little video clip on Instagram or something in a day or two.

"But I do think we are in danger of bullying a lady who is trying to recover from a very serious operation."

"She was photographed yesterday in the car with William (and) she didn’t look that happy. She must be under intense pressure now – whenever she’s going to be seen in public," she added. "The pressure has doubled and redoubled and I think she’s in a fragile mental and physical state and we should lay off here."

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