Kate Beckinsale joked that she was set to “resume royal duties” after a mix-up which saw a story about her suffering a ruptured ovarian cyst illustrated with a snap of Kate Middleton.

The Underworld actress, 45, was recently admitted to hospital for the condition, which she said “really hurts”.

She has now shared a picture on Instagram of a news story with the headline “Kate Beckinsale hospitalized for ruptured ovarian cyst” – which had a picture of the Duchess of Cambridge on it.

Beckinsale captioned the post: “So moved and touched by all the kind wishes I have received over the last few days and staggered by the similar and worse stories my #cysters have been sending me.

“I am feeling much better and I hope all the other girls going through it are too.

“Back to resume my royal duties.

“William says hi.”

At the weekend the actress shared two pictures of herself in hospital.

One showed her with a breathing tube in her nose and a pained expression on her face.

She wrote: “Turns out a ruptured ovarian cyst really hurts and morphine makes me cry.

“So thankful to everyone who looked after me #wobbly.”

Another picture shared with her 2.5 million followers showed her lying in the hospital bed.