Royal expert's surprising claim about Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton's relationship: 'Bizarre'

A royal expert has shared a surprising claim about Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton's relationship amid the Princess of Wales' photo scandal.

Following the confirmation that Kate's recent Mother's Day photo was edited, numerous royal photos are now being questioned by photo agencies, with a snap from Meghan and Prince Harry's son Prince Archie's christening now being brought into the fold.

The photo, which features the royal family and young Prince Archie, has been labelled as "digitally enhanced" by Getty Images. However, this was quickly shut down by the photographer, Christopher Allerton, telling the Daily Mail that it was "a load of cobblers [rubbish]".

He added that the image had "very minimal tuning".

Expert says Meghan has 'inserted herself into the conversation'

When asked if she believes it's strange Meghan is being brought into the Photoshop conversation, American-based royal expert Kinsey Schofield tells Yahoo Lifestyle that Meghan appears to have brought it upon herself by making her return to Instagram to announce her new venture - American Riviera Orchard.

"With so much interest in your sister-in-law, plus The Diana Legacy awards taking place at the exact same time, it’s an awfully bizarre time to officially launch American Riviera Orchard, especially when there is nothing tangible on the site," Kinsey tells us, referring to the new business Meghan launched earlier in March - right as the Kate conspiracy theories were at fever pitch.

While the site currently has no content, Page Six Style revealed that a trademark application for the brand states that it will sell a range of homewares, including jams, spreads, cutlery, table linen, drinkware and cookbooks.

"A full PR blitz with no immediate return on investment," says Kinsey of the launch. "So, some might argue that Meghan has inserted herself into the conversation.

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"Everyone Photoshops photos but I think it's fair to assume that Meghan has more experience on social media than Catherine. Meghan built an entire brand for herself online that was so impressive that she captivated a prince."

She then shared her surprising claim about the pair, "I don't think these two women compete with each other as much as their duelling online fanbases wants them to. Clearly Meghan has voiced her opinion that the palace protected Catherine in a way that made Meghan feel neglected but if the last three months have taught us anything... it's that maybe the palace doesn't always know what they're doing. I don't feel like the Princess of Wales has been protected at all over the last two weeks."

What is Meghan launching?

Meghan last week announced she is launching a new lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard.

The website is expected to focus on home, garden, food and general lifestyle topics, and is thought to be an extension of the Duchess' former blog, The Tig. "She’s been working on this for over a year and it’s all the things that are close to her heart — all the things she’s passionate about," an insider told Page Six.

The website currently has no content, but you can join a waitlist to be informed once it is live.

What happened to Kate?

Kate underwent abdominal surgery in January, however, the Palace has not shared further details on the reason behind the surgery, only that the recovery would be long and she would be unlikely to return to work until after Easter.

This month, there have been countless conspiracy theories on Kate's whereabouts after it was discovered that she has barely been seen since Christmas Day.

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After the release of the now-viral Mother's Day portrait, rumours hit an all-time high due to some major Photoshop mishaps. This led to Kate issuing an unprecedented statement on Instagram 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."

More recently, she was seen on video for the first time near her home with William, but even this did little to dispel rumours, with some social media users convinced the person seen in the grainy footage was a lookalike.

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