Royals release photo to mark Prince Louis' birthday
LONDON — A close-up picture of a grinning Prince Louis has been released by Kensington Palace to mark his sixth birthday.
The photo was taken by his mother, Catherine, Princess of Wales, in Windsor, where they live.
“Happy 6th Birthday, Prince Louis! Thank you for all the kind wishes today,” the post read. The image was attributed to Catherine, a keen photographer.
The family traditionally releases a new photo each year on Louis's birthday. But this year's photo may attract more attention after the frenzy that followed the one issued by Kensington Palace on Mother's Day in Britain. That photo, also taken by Catherine, was pulled by photo agencies after they expressed concerns that it had been altered in violation of their standards.
Catherine later apologized, saying that, “like many amateur photographers,” she had “experiment(ed) with editing.”
The palace usually releases the photo of Louis to the press under embargo the day before, which is why there were a number of headlines in the British press early Tuesday remarking on the absence of a photo. Kensington Palace published the image around lunchtime.
Catherine shocked the nation last
month when she revealed she had been diagnosed with cancer and that she was in the early stages of chemotherapy. Her news came after her father-in-law, King Charles, also revealed he had cancer.
Last week, her husband, Prince William, returned to royal duties, making his first public appearance since the palace released a video of his wife sharing her cancer diagnosis.