The latest theory about the Kate Middleton photo is wild. And yet it makes total sense.

There's been a development in the royal family drama that has taken over the internet.

Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, has had fans speculating about her now-viral (edited) Mother's Day photo for days now. The pic included herself and her three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, and to say it's had us talking would be a very big understatement. 

Prince William and Princess Catherine shared the image, but were promptly criticised when experts noticed discrepancies in the pic that pointed to Photoshopping — and four of the largest photo agencies in the world, AAP, Reuters, AFP and Getty Images, ended up deleting the image.

A 'kill notice' from the Associated Press read: "At closer inspection, it appears that the source has manipulated the image." They were... correct. 

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A post shared by The Prince and Princess of Wales (@princeandprincessofwales)

Following the debacle, which even resulted in an apology from the Princess herself, a new theory behind the Photoshopped image has now emerged. And it actually makes... a lot of sense?

On X (formerly Twitter), one royal fan has noticed how very similar Kate's face looks in the new family photo to the royal's Vogue photoshoot from 2016, and suggested that the image may have been borrowed to create the royal snap. 

Ruby Naldrett, who works in social media at UK tabloid Daily Mirror, shared her theory via X on Monday — and it's such a popular theory that it has been viewed more than three million times in less than 24 hours.

"My analysis of the Kate Middleton photo saga is that they took her face from the Vogue cover she did years ago and edited it in," Naldrett said in her now-viral tweet.

my analysis of the kate middleton photo saga is that they took her face from the vogue cover she did years ago and edited it in pic.twitter.com/JLXts08zp5

— Ruby Naldrett (@rubynaldrett) March 11, 2024

The Vogue cover was shot eight years ago and as wild as it sounds, when placed side by side with the new family photo — or overlayed, as Ruby demonstrates in her video — it kinda makes sense. 

Other royal watchers were quick to agree.

"That’s why her hair is blurry and translucent, from them enhancing where the hat flattened it," one person responded in support, referencing the fact the royal wore a wide-brim hat for the cover shot. 

Kate Middleton's 2016 Vogue cover shoot. Image: Vogue.

There was some disagreement from skeptics, though, who felt the two photos looked the same because they were both of the same person. "It's nothing alike. It’s just the same face with the same smile because it’s the same person. Otherwise, it’s not remotely similar," one person said. 

Another added, "It's 'spot on'... because it's the same woman's face."

Earlier in the day, the Princess of Wales had issued a statement about the numerous Photoshop errors in the photograph. "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," she shared on Instagram and X.

Conspiracies have been floating around about the Princess of Wales for weeks — even before the image was posted online. 

Royal watchers first began to wonder if something was amiss when the royal family announced in January that Catherine would be spending two weeks in The London Clinic hospital to recover from "planned abdominal surgery". It was also said that the Princess would not be making any public appearances until after Easter.

While the royal hasn't addressed rumours (or the Vogue conspiracy) head-on, Kensington Palace stepped in to put a stop to the speculation. 

"We were very clear from the outset that the Princess of Wales was out until after Easter and Kensington Palace would only be providing updates when something was significant. That guideline stands," a spokesperson said, reiterating that Kate was "doing well".

Feature Image: Vogue/Instagram @princeandprincessofwales.