Just hours after the Princess of Wales announced her shocking cancer diagnosis, Blake Lively apologized to Kate Middleton for joking about her viral photoshop fail on Instagram.
As royal followers know, Princess Catherine recently revealed in an emotional video that she was diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer after undergoing abdominal surgery in January 2024. In the wake of Kate’s announcement, Blake took to her Instagram Story to express how “mortified” she was for trolling the princess on social media when she was secretly grappling with her cancer diagnosis.
“I’m sure no one cares today but I feel like I have to acknowledge this. I made a silly post around the ‘photoshop fails’ frenzy, and oh man, that post has me mortified today,” the Gossip Girl alum wrote in her post on March 22, 2024. “I’m sorry,” she added, before signing off on a positive note. “Sending love and well wishes to all, always. ❤️”
Like her husband Ryan Reynolds, Blake is known for her sense of humor, and the pair often playfully tease each other on social media. Most recently, however, she took aim at the Princess of Wales as royal followers on social media raised questions about her health and circulated countless conspiracy theories around her absence since her surgery.
While promoting her beverage line Betty Buzz on Instagram, the actress shared a heavily-edited photo of herself. The image, which she joked she “just took today,” was obviously photoshopped. While the post has since been removed by Blake, it was a clear reference to Kate’s controversial portrait with her and Prince William’s children. The original portrait, which was shared via the Prince and Princess of Wales’ social media accounts on British Mother’s Day, was quickly confirmed to be digitally altered. An apology, attributed to Kate, was issued shortly after the photoshop snafu was discovered by the public.
Little did the world know, however, that Kate was already dealing with the news of her cancer diagnosis when the now-infamous portrait was released. As she explained in her video announcing her diagnosis, it was initially believed that her condition was “noncancerous” when she underwent major abdominal surgery in January. “The surgery was successful, however, tests after the operation found cancer had been present,” Kate explained in her announcement. “My medical team, therefore, advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy, and I’m now in the early stages of that treatment.”
The Princess of Wales went on to express how she and her family were processing the difficult news. “This, of course, came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family,” she shared. “As you can imagine, this has taken time. It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment. But most importantly, it has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that’s appropriate for them and to reassure them that I’m going to be okay,” she added, referring to her three children with Prince William.
“As I’ve said to them, I am well and getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal in my mind, body and spirits,” Kate continued. “Having William by my side is a great source of comfort and reassurance, too, as is the love support and kindness that has been shown by so many of you. It means so much to us both.”
