Pictured: Prince Louis poses for new photo to mark his sixth birthday
A new photograph of Prince Louis taken by the Princess of Wales has been released to celebrate his sixth birthday, showing him smiling from a picnic blanket.
Barefoot Prince Louis, wearing a checked shirt and blue shorts, beams in a close-up image taken on the lawn, with his tongue slightly poking through a new gap in his bottom teeth.
The photograph was taken by the Princess of Wales in Windsor, where the family live at Adelaide Cottage, in the last few days.
It was published on social media by Kensington Palace on the Prince’s birthday.
An accompanying message reads: “Happy 6th Birthday, Prince Louis! Thank you for all the kind wishes today.”
The photograph, which palace sources said had not been edited, was released as part of a now ten-year-old tradition set by the Wales family, in which they share an image of their children on their birthdays.
It is the fifth year Louis has been photographed by his mother, with just one professional photoshoot to date.
The family was criticised earlier this year for a Mother’s Day photograph, taken by the Prince and edited at home by the Princess. She later apologised for confusion caused by the amateur edits.
It then emerged that she had been dealing with a cancer diagnosis, and was undergoing preventative chemotherapy.
In a video released before the Easter holidays, she told the world how she has guided her children through the process of understanding the treatment, and asked again for privacy.
“It has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be OK,” she said in the video.
“As I have said to them; I am well and getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal; in my mind, body and spirits.”
The family spent the Easter holidays in Norfolk, and the children are now back at school in Windsor. The Prince of Wales is expected to continue with a programme of public engagements, balancing them with caring for his family.
Prince Louis was last seen in public on Christmas Day when the Royal family made their traditional festive appearance on the King’s Sandringham Estate to walk to church.
He was pictured holding hands with Zara and Mike Tindall’s eldest daughter Mia on one side and grasping his father’s fingers with his other hand.
Earlier that month, the young royal joined his older brother Prince George, aged 10, and sister Princess Charlotte, eight, at the annual Westminster Abbey carol concert staged by their mother Kate.
He had also joined his mother and siblings for an engagement at the Baby Bank in Holyport near Maidenhead, where he helped sort through donated goods.
It is likely a family birthday celebration, perhaps involving the prince’s grandparents Carole and Michael Middleton, will be held after the school day is over.
The Prince and Princess of Wales’ youngest child is fourth in line to the throne and was born on St George’s Day, April 23, 2018, at the private Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, London, weighing 8lb 7oz.
He was christened Louis Arthur Charles at 11 weeks old by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby at the Chapel Royal, St James’s Palace in front of friends and family.
