Prince William, Kate Middleton Deviate From Royal Tradition With New Birthday Portraits
LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 17: Catherine, Princess of Wales and Prince William, Prince of Wales with Princess Charlotte of Wales, Prince George of Wales and Prince Louis of Wales on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during Trooping the Colour on June 17, 2023 in London, England. Trooping the Colour is a traditional parade held to mark the British Sovereign's official birthday. It will be the first Trooping the Colour held for King Charles III since he ascended to the throne. (Photo by Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images)
Prince William and Princess Kate Middleton seem to have officially broken a royal tradition with the release of their two youngest children's most recent birthday portraits.
When Prince Louis turned six on April 23, 2024, and Princess Charlotte turned nine on May 2, the royals released the kids' official birthday portraits, taken by Middleton, and posted them on the couple's Instagram account in the middle of the day, their time.
Traditionally, however, media outlets received the photographs ahead of their release so that they could prep content to publish at a time preselected by Kensington Palace.
The change assumedly arose as a result of the family's Mother's Day portrait fiasco, in which several news organizations ultimately "killed" the snapshot after it was discovered to have been heavily manipulated—errors that were eventually attributed to Middleton "experiment[ing] with editing."
By posting them directly, the royals' office likely feels more in control of the portraits.
The couple also broke tradition back in 2015, when the first official photographs of Princess Charlotte were taken by her mother. It marked the first time a member of the royal family had taken them, rather than a photographer, with Middleton going on to snap many other official portraits of her three children, even amid her treatment and recovery following abdominal surgery and a cancer diagnosis.
While the royals remain relatively mum over her overall health, Prince William recently assured spectators at one of his royal engagements that Middleton and the rest of his family are "all doing well."
