Kate Middleton's first steps back to public life? Princess of Wales ...

Kate Middleton, pictured during a royal engagement in 2020, has been making gradual steps back to life in the spotlight

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The Princess of Wales looked ‘happy and well’ after she was seen visiting a farm shop in Windsor, in her first appearance out in public since the Mother’s Day photograph controversy.

Kate Middleton was spotted ‘out shopping with William’ on Saturday 16 March as she visited the store close to her Adelaide Cottage home, onlookers told The Sun. It marked the first time the Princess has been seen out-and-about since the scandal last week, and an apparent return to form for Kate, who is recovering from abdominal surgery which took place in January.

Ever the doting mother, she went on to spend the morning watching her children, George, Charlotte and Louis playing sports alongside Prince William.

The now infamous image released for Mother’s Day marked the first time the Princess had been seen officially since her surgery and was supposed to quell social media rumours which had become a frenzy in recent days. However, after the picture was released on Sunday 10 March, eagle-eyed members of the public were quick to point out a number of ‘errors’ in the image which appeared to have been digitally manipulated. The Palace came under immense pressure over the picture after it was withdrawn by Reuters, AP, Getty and AFP, before Kate Middleton released a statement to reveal she, in fact, had edited it.