Kate lets Diana take the spotlight: Princess skips Mother’s Day post after emotional cancer message and Photoshop furore

The Princess of Wales opted not to post a Mother’s Day message after the Prince of Wales’s emotional tribute to Diana yesterday.

Ahead of what would have been the late Princess of Wales’s 65th birthday, William, 43, shared a single, never-before-seen photograph of his mother to mark the holiday.

Neither William nor Kate followed this up with a separate picture of the Waleses’ family as the future queen broke her annual Mothering Sunday tradition.

Last year, Kate celebrated the healing power of ‘Mother Nature’ in a moving clip after the furore surrounding a digitally altered snap of her and her three children in 2024.

Instead, a photograph of Diana sitting in a field of flowers with a two-year-old Prince William was the only message posted on the prince and princess’s official social media profiles yesterday.

The picture is from the Prince’s private family collection and has not been shown to the public before.

The caption was especially moving as William chose to dedicate it to Diana, as well as those who may have lost their mothers in a personal message tinged with sadness.

William, who was 15 when Diana died, wrote: ‘Remembering my mother, today and every day. Thinking of all those who are remembering someone they love today. Happy Mother’s Day. W.’

The last time Kate featured in the Waleses’ Mother’s Day post was in 2023, when Kensington Palace’s official Twitter account shared a sweet photo of the future queen, sitting on a tree branch, with her and William’s three children.

The Princess of Wales opted not to post a Mother’s Day message after the Prince of Wales’s emotional tribute to Diana yesterday. William, 43, shared a never-before-seen image of his late mother (they are seen here together in a photo from 1993)

Neither William nor Kate followed this up with a separate picture of the Waleses’ family as the future Queen broke her annual Mothering Sunday tradition

‘Happy Mother’s Day from our family to yours,’ the caption read.

Prince Harry has previously arranged for flowers to be laid at his late mother’s grave on the day.

And Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, along with celebrating their mother the Princess of Wales, have in recent years shared homemade cards addressed to their ‘Granny Diana’.

The Royal Family’s official X account also released a Mother’s Day message along with two photos of Queen Elizabeth II and one of Queen Camilla and her late mother Rosalind Shand.

A caption reads: ‘Wishing Mothers everywhere, and those who might be missing their Mums today, a restful Mothering Sunday.’

However, there was no message for Kate this year, as it appeared the royal couple wanted to keep the focus on Diana ahead of her milestone birth anniversary on July 1.

Last year, the princess broke tradition with her Mother’s Day post as she reflected on the healing powers of ‘Mother Nature’ after her cancer journey in the poignant clip.

In a statement accompanying the short video, Kate wrote: ‘Over the past year, nature has been our sanctuary. This Mother’s Day, let us celebrate Mother Nature and recognise how our bond with the natural world can help not only nurture our inner selves, but remind us too of the role we play within the rich tapestry of life. C.’

The video was reminiscent of the Norfolk health update video shared by Kate in 2024, when she revealed she had completed chemotherapy treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer.

She is currently in remission from the disease.

It came after Kate’s Mother’s Day post from 2024 caused controversy when it was revealed that the photo of the princess with her three children had been edited.

On March 10, 2024, Kensington Palace released an image of Kate posing with Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.

It was the first official picture released of Kate since she underwent ‘planned abdominal surgery’ in January that year – and followed weeks of speculation about the princess’s whereabouts.

After some eagle-eyed viewers noticed apparent tweaks, the Palace soon came under pressure to reveal the truth behind the image that top picture and news agencies later ‘killed’ over claims it had been digitally manipulated.

Rumours swirled and sleuths pointed out flaws in the image, which included strange blurs and missing sleeves, until Kate released a statement blaming her own ‘experiment with editing’.

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A statement at the time from the Princess of Wales said: ‘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 stressed that this was ‘an amateur, family photograph taken by the Prince of Wales’.

They said the couple wanted to offer an ‘informal’ picture of the family together for Mother’s Day and the princess made ‘minor adjustments’, as she has shared in her statement on social media.

An aide added: ‘The Wales family spent Mother’s Day together and had a wonderful day.’

Ahead of Mother’s Day, Prince William proved he was ever the doting husband as Princess Kate joined him on a series of engagements in London on Thursday.

Borough Market was gripped by ‘Walesmania’ as fans clamoured for selfies while trying to shake hands with the Princess of Wales – but it appeared William, 43, only had eyes for his wife.

The royal couple made an unannounced pitstop at the market before making their way to Bermondsey for a pub crawl along the beer mile.

Throughout the day, it was clear William is just as enamoured by Kate as he was when they first started dating more than 20 years ago.

The future queen, 44, was poised as she spoke about giving up alcohol in the wake of her cancer diagnosis while William listened with quiet admiration.

The pair engaged in playful banter as they tried their hand at brewing beer and even had a pint-pulling competition after William praised Kate’s beekeeping skills – declaring she ‘knows a lot’.

As they left their final engagement of the day at the RNLI Tower Lifeboat Station, one woman shouted ‘Happy Mother’s Day, Catherine!’

Earlier that day, Kate appeared to pay her own tribute to Diana – by wearing a pair of Cartier ‘Trinity’ hoops, much loved by the princess.

The glamorous sentimental jewellery piece is believed to have been a thoughtful gift from William to mark her 43rd birthday.

Created by Louis Cartier in the 1920s, the earrings are Kate’s sixth jewellery item from the Trinity collection, with the three intersecting hoops thought to be a nod to her three children.

The piece is also believed to be a loving tribute to her beloved mother-in-law, Princess Diana, who was a firm fan of Cartier’s ‘Trinity’ collection and famously wore a distinct Trinity ring on her pinky finger.