RICHARD KAY: Trust and integrity are precious commodities. The public adores the royal family, but that adoration rests on being told the truth

Like his father, Prince William never does things hastily. He courted Kate Middleton for more than eight years before marrying her, and waited nearly two decades before speaking properly about the impact of his mother’s death.

But yesterday, as the damaging fallout from a digitally altered family photo threatened to plunge the royal family into a new self-inflicted crisis, he acted with commendable speed.

The only problem was the intervention of his wife, whose personal apology for the “confusion” over the photo raised more questions than answers.

With all their good intentions in danger of falling apart, it’s easy to understand why the couple acted the way they did. The photo – taken by William – of Kate surrounded by their three children in the garden of their Windsor home was released to mark Mother’s Day, but was also intended as a public sign that her recovery from abdominal surgery was going well.

Its other, unstated purpose was to stamp out increasingly frenzied internet gossip about the Princess of Wales’s health and far-fetched conspiracy theories about her absence from the royal stage.

But instead of silencing the doubters and quashing such rumors, it has actually galvanized them.

One internationally renowned photo agency after another, including Reuters and America’s Associated Press, withdrew the photo, indicating the image may have been manipulated. They called on media organizations to remove it from their systems.

Within hours, the story of the ‘deep-fake’ royal photo was front-page news and even the BBC made it a headline item on its website. How on earth could this happen?

As accusations flew over the photo, which cast a deep shadow over Westminster Abbey’s Commonwealth Day celebrations, royal insiders privately insisted there was no professional tampering, just a minor revamp of a photo that captured a private moment .

But that explanation is simply not enough. This was not a snapshot destined for a family photo album, but an image that would be shared with the world in an attempt to quell speculation about Kate’s health once and for all.

How foolish such expectations now seem.

The palace caretakers must have hoped that Kate’s mea culpa would avert this dangerous and unforeseen crisis. But far from “killing” the story, her statement breathed new life into it.

It quoted her lamely saying, “Like many amateur photographers, I occasionally experiment with editing.” She also apologized for “any confusion the family photo caused.”

And that was it. There was no explanation as to why she wanted to change the photo or what she hoped to change. What was the update about?

Last night an investigation into the ‘metadata’ on the image by Sky News suggested it had been edited twice – once last Friday evening and again the next morning. However, it was not clear what exactly had changed.

Kate’s account said nothing about the circumstances in which the photo was taken, or even when it was taken.

This is important because the lack of any clarification has caused the rumor mill to go into overdrive.

A widely viewed TikTok video suggested that the photo was taken last November and that the children’s and princess’ clothing had been altered through ‘Photoshop’ manipulation.

Perhaps the biggest mystery of all is the most obvious: the absence of Kate’s wedding and engagement rings. This must certainly have raised alarm bells for the communications team at Kensington Palace, who were responsible for distributing the images.

They know how these royal photos are viewed by fans who look at every detail. Often they offer an explanation for events that an explanation cannot – such as the photo frames of family snapshots that the late Queen used to curate her annual Christmas Day message.

The princess’s sapphire engagement ring belonged to Princess Diana and is probably the most famous piece of jewelry in the world. The fact that it wasn’t there undoubtedly aroused curiosity.

Kate’s apology is clearly sincere, but her explanation is partial. It seems unfair that the woman whose health and well-being were at the center of this baffling episode is the one saying sorry.

For all their hands-on parenting and their insistence on living their home life without the staff William grew up with, they are not completely without backup.

It’s entirely appropriate to wonder why the couple’s highly paid communications staff failed to spot the discrepancies in the photo before it was released. But maybe it was.

By apologizing, it seems like the princess is taking full responsibility, which for someone still recovering from major surgery, seems extremely unfair.

William and Kate are smart, personable and intelligent. They are down-to-earth and unobtrusive – the very qualities that have made them the greatest attraction of our royal family. But it is this desire for the mundane that hides one major flaw: an almost obsessive need for secrecy.

How easy it is to compare King Charles’ approach to his cancer diagnosis with that of his daughter-in-law.

He has been open and candid about his illness and does everything he can to be seen. In this way, the king has allayed concerns by inviting the public to join his journey – at least so far.

Neither the reason for Kate’s surgery nor the nature of her complaint has been disclosed. Perhaps such a position could have held in years past – before social media – but today it is virtually impossible.

Much of what is posted online is not only inaccurate and unpleasant, but also hurtful.

Could she and William have handled things differently? With their overriding desire to protect the princess’s privacy and keep medical matters to themselves, I suspect they can’t do that.

But there is another problem here. The couple has built a towering wall around their family life that rightly protects them from prying eyes. But at a price: it has contributed to the feeling that they can be isolated and quite remote.

Likewise, their decision to move from London to the middle of Windsor Great Park, while great for George, Charlotte and Louis’ education, has contributed to the idea that they are somewhat disconnected.

Never was this clearer than with William’s decision last month not to attend the memorial service of ex-king Constantijn. No explanation has ever been given, but in an institution like the Royal Family, where presentation is fundamental, it looks like a mistake. A mistake that was exacerbated by the photo fiasco.

For years, they have chosen to take photos of their children themselves on important occasions, rather than inviting a stranger.

Often the results are charming, and there is no doubt that the photographs Kate takes of the children are infinitely warmer than those taken by Charles and Diana of their young sons by society cameramen such as the late Lord Snowdon.

For William, the experiences of his own childhood and the brutal battles between his parents must still be raw. And with Kate he has created an idyllic homely setting. In part, it was a necessary response to his brother Harry and Meghan’s devastating behavior over the past four years.

The Sussexes weaponized their royal life; William has chosen to keep as much hidden as possible, not only from the public eye, but also to keep it out of the reach of his brother and sister-in-law. The ad hominem attacks him and Kate in Harry’s bitter memoir. Spare may be forgiven one day, but they will never be forgotten.

Some will dismiss the media criticism of the manipulated photo as a storm in a teacup. But there are precious things at stake here: trust and integrity.

If images can be digitally altered, what else can be twisted? The British public adores the royal family, but that adoration rests on them being told the truth.