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

The Princess of Wales chose not to publish a Mother’s Day message following the Prince of Wales’ emotional tribute to Diana yesterday.

Ahead of the late Princess of Wales’s 65th birthday, William, 43, To celebrate the holiday, she shared a single, never-before-seen photo of her mother.

As the future queen broke with the annual Mothering Sunday tradition, neither William nor Kate followed up with a separate photo of the Welsh family.

Last year, Kate celebrated the healing power of ‘Mother Nature’ with a moving clip following furore around a digitally altered photo of herself and her three children in 2024.

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

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

The title was particularly poignant as William chose to dedicate it with a personal message of sadness to Diana and those who may have lost their mothers.

William, who was 15 when Diana died, wrote: ‘Today and every day I remember my mother. I’m thinking of everyone who remembers a loved one today. Happy Mother’s Day. W.’

The last time Kate appeared in Wales’ 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.

As the future Queen broke with the annual Mothering Sunday tradition, neither William nor Kate followed up with a separate photo of the Welsh family.

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

Prince Harry had previously arranged for flowers to be left at his late mother’s grave that day.

As well as celebrating their mother, the Princess of Wales, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis have shared homemade cards dedicated to ‘Grandma Diana’ in recent years.

The Royal Family’s official X account also includes Queen Elizabeth II. She posted a Mother’s Day message that included two photos of Elizabeth, as well as a photo of Queen Camilla and her late mother, Rosalind Shand.

The caption reads: ‘Wishing Mothers everywhere a peaceful Mother’s Sunday and those who may miss their Mothers today.’

But there was no message for Kate this year as the royal couple wanted to keep the focus on Diana ahead of her landmark birth anniversary on July 1.

Last year the Princess broke tradition with a Mother’s Day post, reflecting on the healing powers of ‘Mother Nature’ following her cancer journey in the touching clip.

In a statement accompanying the short video, Kate wrote: ‘Over the past year, nature has been our refuge. This Mother’s Day, let’s celebrate Mother Nature and realize that our connection to the natural world not only helps nourish our inner self, but also reminds us of the role we play in the rich tapestry of life. C.’

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

The disease is currently in remission.

This comes after Kate’s Mother’s Day post in 2024 sparked controversy after it was revealed that a photo of the princess with her three children had been edited.

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

It was the first official photo of Kate released since she underwent ‘planned abdominal surgery’ in January that year, and came after weeks of speculation about the princess’ whereabouts.

After some eagle-eyed viewers noticed the obvious changes, the Palace was soon under pressure to reveal the truth behind the most talked about photo and the image that news agencies had ‘killed’ due to claims it had been digitally manipulated.

Rumors swirled until Kate released a statement blaming her own ‘editing experiment’, with detectives pointing out flaws in the footage such as strange blurs and missing arms.

A statement from the Princess of Wales at the time said: ‘Like many amateur photographers, I occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to apologize for the confusion caused by the family photo we shared yesterday. I hope everyone who celebrated had a very happy Mother’s Day. C’

Royal sources emphasized that this was an ‘amateur family photo taken by the Prince of Wales’.

They said the couple wanted to present an ‘unofficial’ photo of the family together for Mother’s Day and that the princess had made ‘minor adjustments’ to her statement on social media.

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

Ahead of Mother’s Day, Prince William proved he has always been a doting husband at a series of engagements in London on Thursday, where Princess Kate joined him.

Borough Market was gripped by ‘Walesmania’ as fans clamored for selfies as they tried to shake hands with the Princess of Wales – but it looks like William, 43, only had eyes for his wife.

The royal couple made an unannounced stop at the market before heading to Bermondsey for a pub crawl along beer street.

Throughout the day, it was clear that William was just as in love with Kate as he was when they first started dating 20 years ago.

William listened in silent admiration as the future Queen, 44, talked about giving up alcohol after her cancer diagnosis.

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

As she left her last engagement of the day at the RNLI Tower Lifeboat Station, a woman shouted ‘Happy Mother’s Day, Catherine!’ he shouted.

Earlier that day, Kate paid tribute to Diana by wearing a pair of Cartier ‘Trinity’ basketball shoes that the princess loved.

The stunning sentimental piece of jewelery is believed to be a thoughtful gift to celebrate William’s 43rd birthday.

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

The piece is also believed to be a loving tribute to her famous mother-in-law, Princess Diana, who was an avid fan of Cartier’s ‘Trinity’ collection and often wore a distinctive Trinity ring on her little finger.