Kate Middleton on Marie Claire's cover

At first, I thought it was all a joke. Airbrushing an image is one thing, but painting Kate Middleton’s head and plonking it onto another person’s body (which they are actually going to sell) is an idea that I seriously fail to understand.

Marie Claire? What. On. Earth. Were. You. Thinking?!

Forget for a moment (if you can!) the clothes – seriously, is it just me or do the designer garments appear to have been thrown onto fake Kate? At least it’s, ahem, local...

Let’s focus on the whole:

Firstly, the cover is NOT real. And secondly, it’s done very badly. (Perhaps on purpose as an editorial decision to retain a smidgeon of authenticity?)

According to the text on the magazine, the badly painted illustration is a fan art tribute to “fashion’s new royal icon” who wears “SA’s best local designs,” followed by a tag at the very bottom which reads:

“Of course she doesn’t. But she should.”

I’m confused. And even offended on Kate's behalf. Are you?

Follow Meagan on Twitter.