SARAH VINE: There’s only one way for William and Kate to put an end to all the cruel speculation: Come clean about what’s REALLY going on – or risk drowning in a quagmire of their own making

A few days later That Mother’s Day photo, and I must confess I’m none the wiser as to what the hell is going on with the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Let’s start with the latter’s mea culpa, her admission that it was she who edited the photo. It’s clearly meant to draw a line under the whole thing, but her statement has only added another layer to the millefeuille of conspiracies, raising far more questions than it answers.

For starters, the idea of ​​the princess hunched over an Apple Mac, playing with a family snapshot in Photoshop just seems so strange.

Isn’t she supposed to be recovering from abdominal surgery? Doesn’t she have anything better to do with her evenings? Besides, what could be so wrong with a simple photo of her and the kids that warrants so much editing?

And even if some retouching might be needed (after all, most official photos these days have a little help from the filter fairies), doesn’t Kensington Palace have a professional on hand to make such improvements? I know King Charles wants a scaled-back monarchy, but surely the royal purse can still extend to proper technical support?

No fewer than twelve changes have been clearly identified, and there are questions about other aspects of it – ranging from the intriguing to the downright insane. Some crazy people are even suggesting that the image is from November last year – although there is no indication from the metadata (digital information about a photo, including details of the device used, plus location, dates and more) that it was taken remotely. WHERE. Nevertheless, it just seems so… well, amateur.

Even stranger to me is that the only thing that really stands out about the photo, the detail that probably sets the tongue wagging, has been left untouched.

I’m of course talking about the fact that the princess isn’t wearing any of her rings. It is true that she does not always wear the diamond and sapphire engagement ring for obvious reasons. But her wedding ring? When has the Princess of Wales ever been seen without it?

Now there may be a perfectly good medical reason why she isn’t wearing it. As Dr. Martin Scurr explained in the Daily Mail, her doctor could have advised her not to do this, in case her knuckles swell after surgery or as a result of certain medications. Or maybe she has lost some weight, which is not unusual after abdominal surgery, and she doesn’t want to risk it slipping off her finger.

Anyway, if you were to change something about the photo digitally, wouldn’t that be the case? Forget Charlotte’s sleeve, just put that wedding ring back on. If nothing else, to keep people from putting two and two together and making it five.

Especially since the prince hasn’t been quite himself lately, having failed to attend the memorial service of the late King Constantine of Greece in St. George’s Chapel a few weeks ago, and he has less than an hour of canceled in advance due to a ‘personal matter’.

This wasn’t just anyone, it was his godfather – and the prince’s name was on the order of service. Furthermore, the chapel is just a few minutes’ drive from his home in the grounds of Windsor Castle. How serious could a ‘personal matter’ have been that he couldn’t get away for an hour or so?

All of which makes the absence of that wedding ring in a photo that the princess says she spent a lot of time doctoring even more worrying. It almost seems intentional, a statement in itself. If it’s not there, could it be because she doesn’t want it there? You don’t have to think about it.

Certainly that photo of them leaving Windsor together in the car yesterday was not exactly encouraging. They didn’t look particularly cheerful, she with her back to the camera in a shadowed profile and he looking somberly at his papers.

Of course, all this can mean nothing. But it can also mean something. And that’s the real problem here. As much as I’d like to think that this, as is so often the case in life, is more nonsense than a conspiracy, at every turn the combined silliness of Kensington Palace and, let’s face it, the attitude of the Prince and the Princess of Wales herself conspires to make someone think differently.

I say this not out of criticism, but rather out of genuine concern for the couple and their well-being. After all, life in the royal fishbowl is far from simple. The princess has clearly undergone a very unpleasant operation and is coming to the end of a very difficult and destabilizing period for both of them.

One cannot underestimate the emotional strain – affecting the entire royal family – resulting from the loss of their great matriarch, the late Queen. Add to that the King’s cancer diagnosis, and it has inevitably been a worrying few months.

It also goes without saying that the pressure that has been placed on them both as a result of the allegations made against them by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex has been enormous, and the attacks on the Princess in particular have been particularly vicious.

It’s also worth remembering that things haven’t been so easy on Kate’s side of the family either. Her parents’ company, Party Pieces, was declared bankrupt last year with debts of more than £2.5 million. That will inevitably have taken its toll.

Is it any wonder the princess is sick? The body has its own way of telling you when it has had enough.

So I’m not saying that they don’t have good reason to feel a little confused or behave a little strangely. Just because you’re a royal doesn’t mean life is all diamonds and tiaras, far from it. And there is no doubt that the public has enormous affection for them both and for their children – and great empathy for the challenges they face.

But the trouble with the image is that it is, in fact, a lie. What’s worse, it now looks like a lie concocted to cover up other lies, a classic example of that old adage: It’s not the crime that gets you, it’s the cover-up. And there’s only one way to put an end to it: make it clear what’s really going on – or risk drowning in a swamp of their own making.