Dublin Airport has been urged to delete a "disgusting" tweet about Britain's Princess Kate.
The post on X, formerly Twitter, was made several days before Kate revealed she had been diagnosed with cancer, and that she is undergoing chemotherapy treatment.
Kate was admitted to hospital for abdominal surgery on January 16th, and a lack of public appearances led to feverish speculation and conspiracy theories on social media.
After it emerged a photo shared on Mother's Day had been edited, the speculation only worsened.
The tweet from Dublin Airport is a picture of Kate and Britain's Prince William, captured by The Sun, which is photoshopped to make it look like they are in the airport.
It is captioned: "Great to see passengers looking so happy and relaxed this morning."
While it has not been removed, comments on the post are now disabled.
Unionist councillor Allister Kyle, from the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV), has called for the post to be removed along with an apology.
"Dublin Airport have come in for considerable criticism on X for their post and have disabled replies to that particular post. Disgracefully, however, it has been left up," he said.
"Many people in Northern Ireland will draw their own conclusions about what this says about the deeply embedded anti-Britishness in the Republic.
"It is time for Dublin Airport to remove this disgusting post, explain how it ever appeared, what action will be taken against those responsible and apologise to Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales."
Great to see passengers looking so happy and relaxed this morning. ✈️ pic.twitter.com/4u35dXnvhU
— Dublin Airport (@DublinAirport) March 19, 2024
A number of celebrities have apologised for sharing memes about Kate following her diagnosis.
Hollywood actress Blake Lively seemingly mocked Kate after she issued a personal apology for manipulating the family photograph.
Referencing a now-deleted Instagram post, Lively said: “I’m sure no-one cares today, but I feel like I have to acknowledge this.
“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.”
Meanwhile, British journalist Owen Jones said he was "very ashamed" for speculating without considering it could be a serious health condition.
As someone who speculated on this without considering it could be a serious health condition, I’m very ashamed to be honest, and all the very best to her. https://t.co/CvLUGtjdet
— Owen Jones (@OwenJones84) March 22, 2024
Hollywood star Jamie Lee Curtis and TV presenter Davina McCall are among the celebrities who have called for Kate to be left alone following her cancer diagnosis.
Halloween star Curtis wrote on Instagram: “Can we please just STOP with this bullshit conspiracy theory? This is a human being with young children, and clearly some sort of a health issue.
“That is a private matter. Do we not have better things to do and more important things to think about and be concerned about than this? It’s a really low point in our society when there are SO MANY crucial issues that need our attention.”
Sharing an image of Kate with her children by artist Lucy Claire Dunbar, McCall wrote on her account: “This picture by @lucyclaireillustration is called ‘It’s the love that gets us through’. They’ve been through enough. Now let’s give them some space to recover.”
