Blake Lively jokes about Princess Kate’s photoshop controversy for new commercial

A day after King Willem-Alexander appeared to make a joke over Princess Kate’s Photoshop controversy, Blake Lively has chimed in on the scandal. 

The actress and businesswoman shared a heavily Photoshopped picture of her lying on a sun lounger with lemons falling from the sky. “I’m so excited to share this new photo I just took today to announce our 4 new @bettybuzz & @bettybooze products!” she captioned the post on Instagram. 

“Now you know why I’ve been MIA. Announcing @bettybuzz MOCKTAILS in the flavors you love from our cocktails. Because you asked,” she continued, before sharing the new flavors of Betty Booze and Betty Buzz, including Sparkling Oak Smoked Lemonade and Sparkling Apple Ginger Sour Cherry.

Blake, 36, founded the sparkling mixer company in 2021. 

On Mother’s Day in the UK on Sunday March 10, Kensington Palace released the first image of the Princess of Wales since she underwent abdominal surgery in January. However, it soon emerged that parts of the image had been digitally altered, and several photo agencies pulled the image.

 “We became aware of concerns about the image and we carried a report about it last night, and made clear that we were seeking urgent clarification about the image from Kensington Palace. In the absence of that clarification, we are killing the image from our picture service,” the Press Agency, one of five major agencies, said in a statement. 

After days of conspiracy the Duchess took the rare step of making a public apology, writing on Twitter: “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. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day. C.” 

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Kate has been out of the public eye since Christmas Day 2023 and underwent abdominal surgery for an undisclosed reason in January. 

The palace released a lengthy statement, which added: “The Princess of Wales appreciates the interest this statement will generate. She hopes that the public will understand her desire to maintain as much normality for her children as possible; and her wish that her personal medical information remains private. Kensington Palace will, therefore, only provide updates on Her Royal Highness’ progress when there is significant new information to share.”

The Duchess is expected to return to her duties after the Easter Weekend. It’s not known at this stage whether Kate will join the family for the service or whether she will resume public engagements after the children’s school holidays.