Whoopi Goldberg Defends Kate Middleton’s Edited Mother’s Day Family Photo

Whoopi Goldberg is giving Princess Kate Middleton the benefit of the doubt after she posted an edited Mother’s Day family photo.

“I’m sorry, I know very few people who don’t manipulate their own photos,” Goldberg, 68, said on the Monday, March 11, episode of The View. “I mean all you gotta do is swipe.”

She continued, “You know what, I have to tell you. She may be the future queen, [but] she’s still an amateur photographer. That’s what they do!”

Over the weekend, multiple news outlets were reportedly notified to remove the photo, which was shared by Prince William and his wife on Sunday, March 10. The picture featured Middleton, 42, sitting with her and William’s three children: Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5.

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After speculation arose that her family’s Mother’s Day portrait was manipulated, Middleton issued a public statement about the viral photo.

“Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” read a post shared via the official Prince and Princess of Wales X account on Monday. “I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day.”

The photo controversy comes after Middleton underwent abdominal surgery at the beginning of the year.

While Kensington Palace announced on January 17 that her procedure was “successful” and that she would be “unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter,” questions about her whereabouts persisted.

Her rep tried to shut down any speculation when she released a statement on February 29 stating, “Kensington Palace made it clear in January the timelines of the princess’ recovery and we’d only be providing significant updates. That guidance stands.”

While Goldberg defended Middleton’s latest actions, other cohosts of The View expressed how they still have questions about the royal family member following her surgery.

“She did step in it though because there are very genuine concerns over her well being,” Alyssa Farah Griffin argued. “I don’t want to speculate but when you put something out like this that doesn’t meet Reuters or the Associated Press editorial standards, it feeds fuel to this fire of conspiracies. I think — even if she’s recovering — she needs to do just a video.”

Goldberg, however, disagreed and said Middleton has no obligation to keep royal watchers updated with every step of her recovery.

“I know this is going to shock you all, but I have been on the cover of magazines with no lines on my face, with my color lightened up,” she explained. “I have seen photographs that people take and I end up with a donkey nose on my face. People can do anything they want to do with pictures — this should not be a shock.”

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Cohost Ana Navarro chose to bring some humor to the discussion by arguing the alleged act doesn’t deserve this much attention.

“Listen, if manipulating pictures was a crime,” she told the audience, “the Kardashians, my best friend and I would be in jail for the rest of our lives.”

The View airs on ABC weekdays at 11 a.m. ET.