The Waleses released a second photo of Princess Charlotte for her 8th b-day

Quelle surprise, the Prince and Princess of Wales managed to make Princess Charlotte’s eighth birthday into a two-day story! On Monday, the eve of Charlotte’s birthday, Kensington Palace released a birthday portrait of Charlotte, reportedly taken by Kate in Windsor in the past week. I assumed, given the less formal energy of the photo, that it was taken at Adelaide Cottage, the family home which the Waleses are desperate to leave. I didn’t even consider the fact that the first photo released might have been the second choice? Because it looks like Kate also organized a formal photoshoot with an actual professional photographer, Millie Pilkington. A second portrait of Charlotte was released by KP on Tuesday.

You might remember the name Millie Pilkington because Prince Louis’s recent birthday portraits were taken by the same photographer. I thought it was weird that Kate hired someone specifically to take photos of Louis (and Kate), but it’s making more sense now. They did another Photo Day, probably during their five-week holiday around Easter. Kate and the kids all posed for Millie Pilkington, and Kensington Palace will now release those photos for major events. Perhaps we’ll even see a “new” Pilkington photo for Father’s Day. That is, unless William wasn’t around for Photo Day. In which case, they’ll have to use another image from the “denim ad” photoshoot they did last year (which we recently saw for Will and Kate’s anniversary).

I will say this about the new photo of Charlotte – it’s good to see Orla, the family dog. Orla replaced Lupo, who died suddenly in 2020. Orla and Lupo both came from cocker spaniel litters bred by Kate’s brother James Middleton. Orla has the thousand-yard stare of a dog in a family with three rambunctious kids.

Photos courtesy of Millie Pilkington/Kensington Palace, Princess of Wales/KP, Cover Images, Backgrid, Instar.

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80 Responses to “The Waleses released a second photo of Princess Charlotte for her 8th b-day”

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  1. Tessa says:

    I am assuming then that George will also have a professional photographer take his birthday portraits

    • Chloe says:

      Im assuming his birthday portraits were taken in that same session.

    • Cara says:

      I hope that a portrait of Prince Archie is released on his birthday. It has been a huge mistake to keep Archie and Lilibet cloaked in such mystery. The people of the United Kingdom should be given an opportunity to get to know these children a wee bit, and the children should have the opportunity to develop a relationship (independent of their parents eventually) with the place that is the reason they carry the titles of prince and princess today. It really isn’t the same as a Sophie Turner or a Blake Lively hiding their kids. One photo of their sweet little faces each year isn’t too much to hope for, is it? Everyone publishes photos of random baby feet these days. It’s gotten to the point where it will soon be a thing to release a photo of teeny tiny toenail clippings.

      • Emmitt says:

        Because the last time the Sussexes released a photo of Arch and the good folks of the UK decided to photoshop and abuse him, I hope another photo of Archie and Lili isn’t released until their 18th birthdays. If you want to see and get to know some red headed siblings, I would suggest picking up a copy of Anne of Green Gables or looking at Raggedy Ann and Andy.

      • Princessk says:

        Sussesexes are damned if they publish pics and damned if they do.

      • Queentim says:

        If the people of the UK wanted to see pictures of the Sussex children, then the public, the BRF and the BM should not abused, insulted and harassed them daily for the past 6 years.

        Like Harry said, he won’t be bullied into playing their game.

        Now it’s their loss.

  2. Chloe says:

    I don’t get this why not release both at the same time?

    • Sugarhere says:

      Because that’s too much work when you’re still learning. One snapshot per day is Kate’s grueling quota. Get it?

      It enables her to count these 2 photographs as 2 events, since they were delivered on different days.

    • Zapp Brannigan says:

      That wouldn’t get them TWO days of media exposure, so close to Charles fancy-hat day too, is this a slap in the face and overshadowing of Charles getting a new hat, the horror!

    • abby says:

      one was with the caption “wishing charlotte happy birthday tomorrow” and the other was released almost on the same day around midnight “thank you for the birthday wishes”. given people put reels of their birthday week on instagram…this doesn’t seem like an issue.

    • Becks1 says:

      Because this drags out the coverage of her birthday.

      It’s annoying bc its just how they do things now so there is no surprise, we all knew a second picture was coming. The first few times it was presented as a “thank you for the kind wishes” or something, kind of like “wow you all were so sweet and enthusiastic over one picture, here’s another as a thank you.” Now its just par for the course that the second picture is coming so its expected.

    • Princessk says:

      More publicity.

  3. Sugarhere says:

    This new pic is hilarious because it looks like the arms can be claimed by the dog.

    • TheOriginalMia says:

      Yes! That’s exactly what I was coming to say. Her arms look weird. Too long for her body.

    • ThatsNotOkay says:

      Girl. I came here to say just that. I don’t know what I’m looking at! Some kind of Escher mobius abstract portrait.

      The child is very cute and sweet-looking, but it’s like, who’s wearing whom? Which one, the dog or the kid, is the ventriloquist’s dummy and which one is operating it?

    • Becks1 says:

      Yes! something about the composition about it is really throwing me off. Her arms look out of proportion to the rest of her. At first I thought she was laying down in the grass, and then I thought she was sitting with Orla on her lap, and now I realize she is more crouching and bending over the dog.

      Charlotte’s smile is adorable and that sweater looks super cute, but yeah something about this picture is throwing me off lol.

      • lanne says:

        I thought the dog was wearing a sweater

      • Nic919 says:

        It almost looks like her arms are photoshopped, but it could be the hair creating that illusion.

        What’s funny is how much you can see the difference in quality in the photo.

      • EPLFan says:

        OK, I’m glad others are saying that it looks photoshopped. I wasn’t sure if it’s my allergy meds affecting my vision or something odd about the photo.

    • Margot says:

      I looked at the dog with sweater arms for far too long. Glad it’s not just me!

    • BeanieBean says:

      Glad I’m not the only one who saw that! I thought perhaps two photos merged into one? Two people, with one hidden by Charlotte’s hair? If that leg is Charlotte’s, how far is she stretched out? I really puzzled over it!

      • aftershocks says:

        👀 I didn’t get any of that on first look. It’s a better looking photo, IMO, than the first. I think the fact that the sweater Charlotte is wearing has big bulky sleeves in a large blue and white striped pattern, which dominates the foreground, might be what’s influencing the optical illusion some people are perceiving. I also spot what seems like Char’s right pants leg just below her right elbow that’s wrapped around Orla’s neck. But again, I mostly focused in on the sweet faces of Orla and Charlotte. 🥰

        It’s a nice pic. The separate releases is no biggie. There was already a report a few weeks ago that WanK were planning to foreground celebrating Char’s b’day during pre-coronation week.

      • Sugarhere says:

        @Beaniebean, @Margot, @Lanne, @Becks1, @Thatsnotok, @TheOriginalmia: Your posts had be rolling on the couch and holding my ribs for a good 12 minutes. After I recovered, I examined the photo some more, and here are my Sherlock-Me conclusions:

        – The Denim fabric of the limb on the left is darker and tighter than the one on the right. So unless the Wales kids wear hand-me-downs from the Cirque du Soleil, these are two distinct pairs of jeans.

        – What is expected to be the little girl’s left hand, bares a rather unusual wrinkle right at the juncture of the forefinger knuckle. Hand wrinkles predominantly appear in women in their early 40s.

        – Charlotte is supposedly crouching on her left knee, with her right leg partially stretched before folding slightly, both legs being sufficiently spread to make room for a medium-sized canine, while her arms are lovingly embracing the pet. My contention is that this posture makes Charlotte’s entire body mass rest on her left knee and around the doggo’s frail neck.

        – However, the dog seems quite unbothered and relaxed, which alone supports the idea that the child’s real body posture during the shooting, is unlikely to have been what is shown here.

        😂 😁 In other words, the photographer of the century released a pic that makes her own daughter appear like Lady Gaga on the album cover of Born this way. Kate is trying so hard to be Meghanly avant-garde, the end result is calamitous: an innocent child is turned into a dismantled contorsionist to validate mommy’s delusional photographic gift. Worth it?

  4. Seraphina says:

    Cute pic. But something seems off to me, and maybe it’s my middle aged eyes, I thought at first Charlotte was kneeling due to something that looks like a knee bend on the left side but then it looks like her back is extended in the background. Is it just me????

    • Kokiri says:

      Not just you. It’s a bizarre angle, I can’t make sense of it either.

    • ShazBot says:

      Yeah I can’t figure out if those are her legs or maybe she’s sitting on Kate?

    • SarahCS says:

      I cannot understand what’s going on. The lighting doesn’t help because it looks like the arms are separate to her body where the jumper appears much lighter in the background.

    • M says:

      She’s squatting over the dog with a leg on each side. Kids are bendy lol

    • Nixie says:

      Is this Photoshopped? Her arms and hands seem odd. I keep looking at it.

    • North of Boston says:

      I’d guess she’s sitting with the dog between her legs, her knees are bent up and she’s leaning way forward hugging the dog. What’s a little strange visually is that the thickness, amount of fabric on her sleeves and her dropped shoulders combined with the fact that her arms are closer to the camera than the rest of her body makes her arms seem too big for the rest of her.

      It’s fine – she’s cute, the dog’s cute, they are both in focus.

      • tamsin says:

        Thanks for the explanation, North of Boston. Right after I saw how cute Charlotte was, and thought it was a cute pose, I noticed how thick the arms of the sweater were, and seem disconnected from Charlottes’s body, and the arms seem too large and the hands almost adult. Bit of a puzzle, this photo. I really like the idea of it, though and I still like the composition of the photo.

      • aftershocks says:

        ^^ Exactly @North of Boston. LOL! I agree with you. It’s not that strange to figure out. What’s with the over-analysis by some people? It’s making me take additional peeks. Again, it’s not a prize-winning photo, but it is somewhat better than Khate’s snaps. 😉

    • HAHA, I was over on LSA, and someone over there mentioned this picture is of Kate and they photoshopped Charolette’s head on it. They pointed out the hands and the long body. They also said flowers haven’t bloomed in the UK yet.

  5. CC says:

    Cute dog. Cute dog not enjoying photo shoot.

    • Aidevee says:

      Dog gas spotted either a squirrel or a sausage at 2 o’clock. Possibly both.

      • Jojo says:

        😂 I agree, someone is definitely holding a treat (sausage or not) just off camera for that dog and saying ‘stay’. Anyhoo as with the previous photo, she’s cute, like 99% of all 8 year olds. The dog’s cute, like 99% of all dogs and…well not much else you can say really… we all know what Charlotte looks like, nothing new or interesting to comment on.

  6. Kokiri says:

    Poor kid.
    Her face is splashed everywhere with no regard for her agency.

    Anyway, isn’t this spotlight stealing? Are t all êtes supposed to be on the coronation this week? Right, only for Harry’s kids.

    • acha says:

      How dare her birthday overshadow the coronation! Can’t she reschedule it like Archie was forced to??

      :p

    • LB says:

      Yes, where are the complaints from the UK media about spotlight stealing? The coronation is just a few days away. If H&M make one peep about Prince Archie’s birthday, the UK media will be all over them. It really is shocking that KCIII set his coronation date on his little grandson’s birthday. KCIII’s aggression towards and disregard for his own blood is astonishing. It shows us the type of person he really is.

  7. Amy Bee says:

    I’m thinking Kate didn’t like not being the main photographer and that’s why she released a photo she took instead of the professional one. I’d say yesterday’s photo was better than the released on Monday.

  8. ShazBot says:

    Side by side you can really see how Kate is amateur hour, so I’m guessing they released them separately to avoid the direct comparison on their social media.

    I’d have probably reversed the order and released the professional first and personal later, but then I guess Kate wouldn’t get all the residuals from the front pages that way.

  9. A Guest says:

    That dog has seen things…

  10. Cassie says:

    I am trying to work out where the rest of the dog is .

  11. Honeybee says:

    This photo release is a proof k&w don’t organise things properly. I really suspect that Charlotte really had a well organised party. If they can’t handle photos, then how can a big party. Even parents doing 9 to 5 job, do better than these two.

    They took many vacations, they been to many holidays, can’t they get atleast one candit photo. I am not saying these photos are bad. They are really nice and Charlotte looks very cute. What i am saying is their management skills. With all the staffs available they can’t do just a photo upload properly. (Oh i forgot the yatch girl thing. Kids are not allowed in this vacation)

    Keen often take leave with children as excuse but now we have clear idea how much she is a hands on parent. Simplely Charlotte looks beautiful like Cinderella and keen feels like the evil step mother. Once she even said that Louise’s first word was mary, his nanny. We have lots of proof keen is the evil step mother.

    • OFFS says:

      They don’t use candid photos for birthdays. It’s a whole big thing where it has to be an Officially Released Portrait (TM). Now, could they change that up a little? Sure. But using a staged photo or photoshoot pic isn’t evidence of anything.

  12. RubySlippers says:

    Awww…what a sweet dog. You can tell he’s accustomed to hugs from the kids.

  13. Inge says:

    I read an interesting post over on tumblr that the brand of the dress that Charlotte is wearing in the first pic is actually advertising that dress for toddlers, and that Charlotte always seems to be stuck in those type dresses.

    • notasugarhere says:

      It would not surprise me in the least if Kate was demanding bespoke, underage clothing for Charlotte. Same as what people accused Sophie of for years. Deliberately dressing children younger than their ages in order to deny their own advancing years.

  14. LadyE says:

    I almost never see the photoshop/conspiracy theories around photos, but what on earth is going on with Charlotte’s arm and HER HAND?? Her arm and hand look like they were enlarged compared to the rest of the photo, but I’m sorry, that hand!! Does anyone else see this? It looks like an adult’s hand??

  15. Demona says:

    I can’t get over how awkward the arms and turned head pose is in the white dress pic. It’s SO odd.

  16. HeyKay says:

    She a kid hugging the family dog, it’s fine.
    Better vs. the stiff official pics.

    • Renae says:

      I have no affinity for kids. Speaking plainly, I just don’t like kids in general and I don’t apologize for it. I’m more interested in the dog.

  17. 😎 Cool says:

    Ha! She looks like William 😆😆

  18. Alice says:

    Adorable girl, adorable dog, really awkward photo.

  19. 😎 Cool says:

    OMG! You are right. Just look at the hand. It is not an 8 yr olds hand!! WTF!!

  20. sparrow says:

    I prefer Kate’s photo. I’m sure it was taken last year, going by the dress etc. I think there’s an idea we Brits slog through life in wellies and under umbrellas because we live in a constant downpour, but our summers can be glorious, ditto our autumns. Kate’s photo reminds me of the gorgeous, sometimes too hot, summer we had last year.

    • Becks1 says:

      i don’t think its from a year ago because of the teeth, but the pictures do look very summer-y for April, even april here on the East Coast where I am.

      We went to England last summer and it was the most gorgeous weather. Well the Brits didnt think so, lol, because it was hot (80s and 90s F) but again, we’re from the mid-atlantic east coast so to us it was pretty normal, especially bc it was not as humid as we’re used to. I brought all this rain gear and it did not rain once in the 10 days we were there, LOL.

      • sparrow says:

        Hi Becks1. I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Yes, it was boiling, to us! There was one particular July day when rail companies were saying people ought not to travel because the rail lines were buckling. I was down in Cornwall at the time. I threw my stuff together & hopped onto a very crowded train home. I love it when it summers up here; people are so lifted in their emotions.

  21. notasugarhere says:

    So where’s the unhinged DanW article about Kate pulling focus from the Struggly by releasing kid photos?

  22. notasugarhere says:

    Kaiser, hiring Pilkington is a way to keep paying her off and keeping her mouth shut about what really went on at PP for decades. They did the same thing with the wedding photos, hiring her to help her launch her wedding business AND ensuring she kept her mouth shut during the run-up to the wedding.

  23. QuiteContrary says:

    Both the dog and Charlotte are adorable but the composition of that photo is giving me a headache.

  24. Kaye says:

    As the former co-owner of a photography studio (but NOT a photographer myself), I really think the proportion is due to depth-of-field and perspective issues. I will say, though, that my first impression was that the jonquils were photoshopped in.

  25. NotSoSocialB says:

    That’s an eight year old smile, if I’ve ever seen one.

  26. Beverley says:

    So let me get this straight. Two birthday photos of Charlotte released days before the Con-a-Nation are not being angrily described as “pulling focus” or overshadowing the king. But any mention or photos of HRH Prince Archie on his own birthday will be akin to bad manners and treason?

    Nah, I get it. Little Charlotte is a white princess, a suitable symbol of Britain’s self-perception of superiority and glory. Whereas the mixed race prince is too Black to be allowed to show his face, not before, during or even after the Clowning.

    Is the Black and Brown Commonwealth taking notes?
    When someone tells you who they are, believe them the first time. – author Maya Angelou

  27. Beth C says:

    Why is it so difficult for people to use her correct first name? Its Catherine and not Kate, plus she hasn’t been a Middleton in over a decade.

  28. Well Wisher says:

    Orla is simply beautiful.
    Happy Birthday Charlotte!!!

  29. Eggbert says:

    As a mom of two kids with strabismus (lazy eye) who ended up needing eye surgery, I really think Chatlotte needs to see an Opthamologist. Her left eye points outward a few degrees

  30. Brincalhona says:

    The top picture looks like she got her first wiglet as a birthday present.

  31. tamsin says:

    I am just taking a second look at the picture, and this may sound crazy, but does anyone think Kate is in the picture? She is sitting with the dog, and Charlotte draped over her back. Those hands can’t be a child’s hands. So is there a theme here? Kate will also be in George’s birthday picture somehow. Okay, I’ll just try to sober up now.

  32. alex says:

    Does Charlotte have three arms? What a bizarre photo the left arm does not line up with her body. Perhaps mummy needs to do some classes on photoshopping. Bleaching a young childs hair is not a good message for the child either, let Charlotte embrace who she is without being dominated by her very vain mother forcing her to change.

  33. Rieki says:

    i’m uncomfortable at the posters on this thread criticizing a little girl about her choice of dress, saying she has cross eyed and needs to see a doctor, and how kate is an evil stepmother??? you don’t have to love kate or the family but picking at a little girl is below low. save it for the DM comments section.

    • Eggbert says:

      A child with strabismus (lazy eye) does need to see an eye doctor since it can result in the brain “turning off” the vision to the weak eye resulting in blindness. Saying you hope a child receives the proper medical attention so they don’t lose their vision is not criticizing or picking on a child.

  34. phlyfiremama says:

    Windsor genes really came through, huh.

  35. maryanne says:

    some of these comments are downright mean about this little girl and her mom. calm down ppl. concern trolling at peak. pointing out medical conditions when you’re not a doc?

    • Eggbert says:

      This is really delayed response and no one will see it, but I need to get this off my chest. I am a doctor: my medical background in addition to the fact that my own two children each have strabismus and undergone months of eye patching, 50+ doctor’s appointments, and 4 surgeries does actually make me qualified to point out that Charlotte has strabismus. A disorder of the eye muscles is not a bad or shameful thing. It just is a medical condition that requires treatment. I don’t believe people should avoid discussing a medical condition because it implies there is shame in having it.