What did Blake Lively say about Kate Middleton? Actress forced to apologise for 'silly post'

Gossip Girl star Blake Lively has recently come under scrutiny after she made a joke relating to Princess Catherine's whereabouts prior to her cancer diagnosis announcement.

On Friday, the Princess of Wales broke her silence after weeks of speculation and conspiracy theories in regards to her whereabouts following abdominal surgery at The London Clinic earlier this year. The Princess revealed last week in her announcement that she was diagnosed with cancer following the procedure she underwent.

Shortly before her cancer diagnosis announcement, Princess Kate was the talk of social media after sharing a snap on Mother's Day that was hit with a "kill notification" due to "manipulations" and areas of the image that had been edited. This soon sparked heavy chatter on social media, with celebrities jumping on the "trend" to address the subject. Blake Lively was among the celebrities to address the "trend", with Kim Kardashian and many others also weighing in.

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The actress, 36, had shared a now-deleted post on her Instagram on March 15. The post promoted her Betty Buzz drink line and seemingly poked fun at the future Queen.

Seen in the post sitting next to a pool holding a can of her drink, the image had an enlarged thumb and a lemon floating over her head, with the caption: "I’m so excited to share this new photo I just took today to announce our 4 new @bettybuzz & @bettybooze products! Now you know why I’ve been MIA.”

Then, following Kate's announcement and the backlash Blake faced, the actress took to social media to issue an apology. She wrote: "I’m sure no one cares today, but I feel like I have to acknowledge this,” she said. "I made a silly post around the ‘Photoshop fails’ frenzy, and oh man, that post has me mortified today. I’m sorry. Sending love and well wishes to all, always."

But despite her grovelling apology, fans have accused Blake of hypocrisy after keeping her children’s names and genders secret, while "mocking" Kate for wanting privacy post-abdominal surgery. And in the comments section of her most recent Instagram post, which came after her Photoshop jibe was promptly deleted, fans slammed her behaviour.

“That was a cruddy apology,” said one person on social media. “You tried to use another woman’s trauma to sell cocktails. And now you are mortified.” Another then commented: “That’s one pathetic ‘apology’. Pride comes before a fall. Don’t be surprised by the backlash.”

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