Katespiracy’ explodes after UK royal photo gaffe

The front pages of some of Britain’s national newspapers, dominated by stories about the altered mother’s day photo released by Kensington Palace on March 10, of Britain’s Catherine, Princess of Wales and her children, in London on March 12.//AFP

The picture was meant to douse speculation about the whereabouts and health of Britain’s Catherine, Princess of Wales, but instead her manipulated image unleashed a torrent of internet-breaking rumors and conspiracy theories.

The storm in the royal tea pot erupted after Kate, 42, on Monday apologized and admitted to editing a palace-issued photograph of herself with her three children after the altered image was withdrawn by news agencies including AFP.

The fiasco gave way to a fresh swirl of speculation about the British royal — dubbed online as “Katespiracy” — laying bare the fragility of the digital landscape in the…