Heartbroken Kate Middleton, Prince William ‘confront‘ false marriage speculation

Prince William and Princess Kate have reportedly addressed the false speculation about their marriage.

The Princess of Wales is going through one of the toughest phases of her life these days as she's recovering after major abdominal surgery and facing social media backlash over photo scandal.

During her absence from spotlight, her husband is also being linked to her pal Rose Hanbury, who has already rejected any rumours of affairs with William.

Kate, 42, apologised on Monday and was said to be “very sad” that the sweet photograph taken by Prince William, 41, had triggered a global furore.

That fracas included conspiracy theories about Kate's whereabouts as she recovers from abdominal surgery. Royal experts have slammed the "disgusting bile, hateful comments and cheap shots" aimed at Kate.

The Sun's long-time royal photographer Arthur Edwards said Kate will find the jibes "upsetting".

Friends of the couple told The Sunday Times that the couple were fully aware of the news coverage and outlandish conspiracy theories on social media. An insider reportedly said that speculation around their marriage was "cruel".

One conspiracy theory spreading was that the couple had split with Kate not wearing her wedding ring in the edited photo.

However, Kate doesn't always wear her engagement ring - the iconic diamond and sapphire band once worn by Princess Diana.

The social media hysteria and and rampant unfair speculation had left the couple "shaken", the paper reported.

One friend said the Kate and William had hoped and expected their request for privacy to be respected.

They told The Sunday Times: "It's not that they didn't think there would be lots of speculation and interest, but they had confidence that people would give them the space they asked for, which they did for about a month."

While another friend said: "If you want to call out the mistake, it was Kate not telling her team that she'd done it [edited the photo]. But she came out and said sorry.

"The photo was a misstep: even with something as innocent as that, you should disclose altering it.

"But in the history of image cropping and photo altering to tell a story, a lot of the reaction from picture agencies was hypocritical."