"The Buckingham Palace team has been far more transparent than the Kensington Palace team," Meinzer said. "When we look at Charles' case, they were forthright about him having cancer, they did tell us he'd be having outpatient treatment, and they gave us photographic updates."

"Less than a week after the announcement of his cancer, he was attending church with Camilla and waving at the camera people and his subjects," she added. "There are hundreds of witnesses to see that this is actually happening in real time while these photos are being taken."

The (altered) photo seen around the world

Unlike Charles, only three photos of Kate have been released since the January announcement from Kensington Palace.

The first, a grainy paparazzi photo published by TMZ on March 4, showed Kate's face obscured by big sunglasses as she sat in the car with her mother, Carole Middleton. The third, published by the Daily Mail on March 11, showed Kate in the car with William — but her face was turned away from the camera.

The only recent clear photo of Kate's face was the picture she and William released on Mother's Day on March 10. The snap shows Kate smiling with the couple's three children, and the caption credits William with taking the picture this year.

Within hours, the Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse announced they would no longer distribute the image due to concerns it had been digitally altered. They sent kill notifications to media outlets worldwide with instructions to remove the picture from all platforms, including social media.

According to ABC News, the Mother's Day photo was edited twice with Adobe Photoshop — once on the night of March 8 and once on the morning of March 9 — before it was released. During an appearance on BBC Radio 4's "The Media Show," Phil Chetwynd, the global news director at Agence France-Presse, said Kensington Palace is no longer a trusted source.

"'Photogate' is a PR disaster, no matter how you look at it," royal historian Marlene Koenig told BI. "It's a major, major story, whether the fangirls like it or not. It's not about Kate being sick. It's not about Kate being a member of the royal family. It's about someone who manipulated a photograph to make it look better. Now there's definitely a lack of trust."

Kate took responsibility for the photo on Monday, writing on X: "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."

It was a move that only heightened confusion — and fuelled more rumors.

The Prince and Princess of Wales 2023 family Christmas card.

Blame the princess

Royal fans and pundits alike were shocked to see an explanation come from Kate rather than a joint statement by Kensington Palace.

"An organization of this size and this international level would normally put out a statement that does not throw one of its most esteemed members under the bus," Meinzer told BI. "I'm kind of surprised that they specifically chose to essentially hang Kate out to dry."

Kate's post on X went against the PR strategy helping her and William for years. Where was the royal family's united front?

But the Prince and Princess of Wales have been diverging from the tactics of their successful 2021 comeback tour for a while now. There's only a handful of photos and videos of the couple together in the past six months on their Instagram page, the most recent being the official Christmas card.

With the black-and-white color, matching outfits, and plain backdrop, it starkly contrasts the sunny, laid-back, and cheerful picture they had shared the year before.

There's no denying Kate and William have reverted to the royal family's former strategy of stiff formality. It's led to increased speculation surrounding the stability of their marriage and a lack of connection to the public that's crucial to the monarchy's popularity and, in turn, its survival.

"I would have focused more on the realness of what Kate's going through. Not everything has to be elevated," Schiffer recently told BI. "People understand that when you're coming back from surgery, it can be difficult, and that's OK too. Part of Kate's charm has always been her ability to be fairly approachable and down to earth, so why move away dramatically from that strategy?"

"One thing that Kate and William should have learned from Harry and Meghan is to come across as more human," Meinzer added.

It remains to be seen if the royal rota — the British tabloids that Harry said have an "invisible contract" with the royal family — will continue to support Kate and William. While stories with sympathetic spins have continued to run on the likes of the Daily Mail, The Mirror, and The Sun, there have also been several negative takes calling Prince William "ungentlemanly" or saying that "the palace can no longer be trusted."

"We're starting to see some very, very loyal members of the royal rota who have always been in William and Kate's corner suddenly not 100% in their corner," Meinzer said.

"I'm surprised any of them are asking any questions right now," she added. "I usually expect them to be firmly in the pocket of the palace."

While it's rare for the royal rota to go against the heir, or the crown for that matter, it's not unprecedented. One only needs to look at how the tabloids covered the Queen's response to Princess Diana's death.

When it comes to being royal, that stiff upper-lipped silence can be your downfall.

Business Insider:Analysis by Anneta Konstantinides and Samantha Grindell: