It’s been happening a lot this year – whenever King Charles has a big moment, whenever he’s doing something for “the first time as king,” or it’s important that all eyes are on him, Prince William and Kate will do something to divert attention to themselves. It’s the Chelsea Flower Show debacle all over again, or William giving that interview about how he’s the savior of homelessness during his father’s first Trooping the Colour newscycle. Well, it’s happened again!
On Christmas Day, Kensington Palace’s official social media accounts dropped a brand new photo of Prince George, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte. It’s new-to-us – part of the same Josh Shinner photoshoot from which the Wales family got their (awful) Christmas card. This one of the kids is still giving Olan Mills/mall studio, although there’s more life to it and less dead space. Will and Kate posted the photo with this message: “Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas, from our family to yours! W & C.” It was timed for release a few hours before King Charles’ Christmas speech aired. You cannot make this up!
The one nice thing I’ll say about this photo is that all of the kids have their fingers in this one, although it definitely looks like Louis is missing an arm. George and Charlotte look fine – they’re both looking at the camera, while Louis is staring off into space. Are these seriously the best shots to come out of that photoshoot?
Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas, from our family to yours! W & C
📸 Josh Shinner pic.twitter.com/7qyMlMTvVG
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) December 25, 2023
Photos courtesy of Josh Shinner for Kensington Palace, Avalon Red and Cover Images.
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- Copyright in the photograph is vested in The Prince and Princess of Wales. Publications are asked to credit the photograph to Josh Shinner. The photograph shall be solely used for news editorial purposes only. It shall not be approved for souvenirs, or memorabilia; or anything colourably similar. There shall be no commercial use whatsoever of the photograph (including by way of example only) any use in merchandising, advertising or any other non news editorial use. The photograph must not be digitally enhanced, manipulated or modified in any manner or form and must include all of the individuals in the photograph when published. The photograph shall not be used after 31st December 2024 without prior permission from Kensington Palace. Any questions relating to the use of the photograph should be first referred to Kensington Palace and before publication. Undated handout photo issued by Kensington Palace of the Prince and Princess of Wales with their three children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. The photograph, which features on their Royal Highnesses’ Christmas card this year, was taken by the photographer Josh Shinner earlier this year and shows The Prince and Princess with their three children in Windsor. NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.,Image: 828291451, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Josh Shinner/Kensington Palace / Avalon
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- Members of the British Royal Family attend the Christmas Day service at Sandringham Featuring: Catherine Princess of Wales, Princess Charlotte, Prince George, Prince William, Prince Louis, Mia Tindall Where: Sandringham, Norfolk, United Kingdom When: 25 Dec 2023 Credit: Cover Images
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- Members of the British Royal Family attend the Christmas Day service at Sandringham Featuring: Catherine Princess of Wales, Princess Charlotte, Prince George, Prince William, Prince Louis, Mia Tindall Where: Sandringham, Norfolk, United Kingdom When: 25 Dec 2023 Credit: Cover Images
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- Members of the British Royal Family attend the Christmas Day service at Sandringham Featuring: Prince George, Prince Louis, Catherine Princess of Wales Where: Sandringham, Norfolk, United Kingdom When: 25 Dec 2023 Credit: Cover Images
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- Members of the British Royal Family attend the Christmas Day service at Sandringham Featuring: Princess Charlotte, Mia Tindall Where: Sandringham, Norfolk, United Kingdom When: 25 Dec 2023 Credit: Cover Images
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- Members of the British Royal Family attend the Christmas Day service at Sandringham Featuring: Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis Where: Sandringham, Norfolk, United Kingdom When: 25 Dec 2023 Credit: Cover Images
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- Members of the British Royal Family attend the Christmas Day service at Sandringham Featuring: Prince William, Princess Charlotte Where: Sandringham, Norfolk, United Kingdom When: 25 Dec 2023 Credit: Cover Images
It’s so odd they couldn’t find a photo where all three were looking at the camera. It’s not like they had only 30 minutes and you just take whatever you can.
They are just using kids as PR tool. That’s it.
I suspect this photo was less about seeing their faces clearly and more about showing that all the kids had the requisite number of limbs, after the first released photo got so roundly mocked.
It’s a fail, incidentally, because the boys all appear to have each had an arm photoshopped out.
/snerk/
“Are these seriously the best shots to come out of that photoshoot?” Was my first reaction too. I don’t know if it’s due to the depressing background there is always something off in the family pictures KP select. The Grimaldi and the Dutch royal family had so much better and more festive pictures.
“Are these seriously the best photos to come out of this shoot?”
As a mother of four, probably. IME, it’s not until around 7/8 that you can get kids to consistently look and smile, especially in a large group.
RE the Waleses, apparently all that “Sussexes didn’t know their place in the hierarchy and wanted to be most important” stuff was about them. I think Charles is probably at somewhat of a loss because no matter what stunts he pulled as PoW, he always respected the sovereign as the end of the line and could be reigned in by his mother. No one reigns William in.
But there are pictures of them previously where they all are smiling and at ease. Interestingly, a lot of those are with PW.
Oh, I think it’s more “play along with daddy” because no matter how privileged, these kids witness forms of domestic violence.
Throwing pillows, screaming at each other, the looks & gritting teeth.
And that’s what we know, publicly.
Anyway, it easy to be the “good parent” when you hold all the power & you can come & go as you please.
A lot of things go into getting great pictures, some parents and photographers have control over and some they don’t. I have tons of great photos of my children, but I have tons of terrible ones, too.
The environment chosen matters. Most of their other photos seem to be more casual, a little candid. Outdoors. Not necessarily “let’s dress up and sit in front of a backdrop.”
The mood matters. None of the photos from this shoot look relaxed. They probably did sit the kids down for 30 minutes and just use what they have. Will and Kate seem to have difficulty being in the same room. Thirty minutes is probably all they can handle.
And finally, children are unpredictable. Who knows what mood Louis was in. I’ve set shoot times for right after naps when kids should be happy, not cranky, not hungry, not overstimulated, etc. and still had disasters because for whatever reason my kid woke up cranky/didn’t sleep/lost their favorite stuffy/etc.
I think a lot of things are fair game but “look at how normal their kids look in photos, is this the best they could do?” isn’t one of them for me.
Personally, I think valid criticism is lost when people nitpick over stuff like this, but that’s just me.
But they had already released a picture and didn’t have to release another for Christmas, especially when the children were being put on parade so additional pictures would be out there. And they are not like normal families with limited time and resources to take additional pictures or without access to skilled photoshoppers. Personally, I like photos that show some personality instead of staging and fake smiles.
My sister and her husband own a photography studio. They can photoshop a good face from another photo in the same shoot onto the one bad face. They do it all the time for group photos when one kid is a problem smiler.
I agree that young kids can be difficult to photograph in a large photo setting, but they have managed to do it before and the only one in this photo who isn’t facing the same way is Louis. This isn’t a large group setting of 7/8 year olds. It’s a photo where there is only one child who isn’t facing the same direction which should be easily corrected. As a professional photographer (especially with the help of the parents) it should have been easier to get Louis to focus in the same direction as his older siblings.
The children all look cute and the lighter backdrop helps some but my issue is that they have Charlotte placing her arm around the shoulders of a much taller George which makes her positioning look awkward. It probably would have been better with George in the middle with his arm around his younger siblings.
I thought that about their placement too, that her arm has to hitch upwards to hold her older brother, downwards for the younger brother but then the question of denim arises. She’s flanked by her brothers wearing dark trousers and shorts, she’s in blue jeans, having her in the centre makes sense that way.
George should have been in the middle because of his height, but for the fact his siblings seem under dressed compared to him, does her denim matter so much if the youngest wears shorts? Then one has to wonder why have such informal attire for a plain backdrop, formal photo in the first place? If Charlotte had a dark skirt and knee socks/tights George could take the middle like the heir he actually is, have his siblings flanking him and look symmetrical – George in long trousers and the siblings having their knees showing.
This photo is as peculiar as the other one. The stark look of the spindly wooden bench is off putting against the neutral background. George should be the focus because of his hierarchical position, even if he was physically shorter than the others GEORGE IS THE HEIR. WanK can’t have it both ways. This is either a formal shot or it isn’t. Their previous outdoorsy photos successfully conveyed a genuinely casual feel in their clothes and manner. They aren’t ‘just folks’ getting their photos taken in this set up, they are royal. This photo is posed, they are informally dressed on a severe looking bench but the background screams formal pose, the mismatch is jarring.
Nah. The older two are old enough to look at the camera and smile, so they just needed to figure out Louis. And even then he’s almost 5, that’s old enough where the photographer should have been able to get one with all three looking at the camera.
And if this is the best they had – they didn’t have to release it in a stunt to beat Charles.
Also these kids have posed for photos more often than your average kid since they do these photoshoots every year. I agree it’s only Louis that might need more work, but he’s 5 so he can take some direction.
It just seems like sloppy work to release this.
As the mom of a 7yo these are facts. Out of the entire holiday season I think I have 3 photos of my son looking presentable, and 2 of those are because a stranger offered to take a pic of us in front of a lovely Christmas tree and he was scared straight. I included all of the outtakes on our card this year because we got one photo. One.
Why is Ms Tindall wearing a pan scourer?
💀
The kids are so cute. But it does take a sinister turn when you see what was done to Harry. 😕
How could you possibly hold these adorable kids in anyway responsible for anything to do with Harry?! The people who comment on this site are delusional
This is SO BORING 🥱 😳 it really explains the British Media’s OBSESSION with the Montecitos 🤣🤣🤣
The new photo looks weird like it was taken somewhere else and then made to look like the other photo.
They have one job – represent. They half-ass everything, including a simple
photo. They really cannot schedule two photo shoots with decent background and styling, season-appropriate. Kids are cute, but my photographer for 100€ made nicer looking photos.
At this point, the Wales kids are bordeing on overexposed.
They are trotted out like child actors.
Bordering?! I don’t know, to me it seems like the Wales read all the negative comments about their Christmas picture and wanted a “do-over.” They’ve like, if you don’t like the first one, here’s another.” This time though, they just chose a picture of their children because they were always in the “best sellers” as it were. The Wales are determined that they WILL be loved, no matter what they do.
They read the comments, all right. It was also another opportunity to step on dear ol’ dad’s news cycle, knowing how much it bugs him. Plus they’re saying–see what’s next! Me! Dad’s almost out of the way! This is pretty close, but I think filming their little getting ready for the coronation video AND BEING LATE FOR THE CORONATION was their biggest ‘up yours’ move yet.
As for this photo, both boys are missing arms, but at least the photoshop isn’t as bad as that first one.
Looks like Charlotte finally got a new coat and Louis got to wear long trousers. Progress.
LOL. This just confirms that the first photo wasn’t an anomaly – the whole shoot was a dingy mess.
The more I look at that family photo and then the pap walk to church, the more I am convinced that Bald was not there for the family photo and was shopped in. You cannot convince me otherwise at this point.
All I could think of when I saw this picture (aside from again questioning who thought these were good photos) was that quote from Prince William: “I’ve put my arm around my brother all our lives and I can’t do that anymore”.
I saw this was released and I laughed. They are so desperate and obvious. This was timed to take away from Charles speech and the church walk itself; I saw more coverage of this than the walk.
No, no, don’t look at the king, or listen to his speech, it’s boring and here, here are our children sat on a very old uncomfortable bench just to take your mind off him because I’m the heir, and I married a brain dead bimbo to produce my own lineage.
We know the kids are rolled out for damage control PR but I didn’t know KP released them before Charles’ Xmas speech.
Pobresitos.
I would caption this photo “Charlotte with her brothers” because the focus is in the centre and commands the picture. A picture with George in the centre with his arm around both of his siblings would have sent a nice message- future king with his siblings. The black and white picture they were trying to allude to with William enthroned and little Harry standing by himself next to the chair also sent a message. William definitely didn’t have his arm around his brother. As to this picture, the background of empty space and the black and white makes this a bit grim. Also, George’s left hand placement is a bit unfortunate. His right hand placed on the back of the bench disappears in the same way as Louis’ left hand. I rather like Louis in this photo- he looks very endearing.
It’s unfortunate the kids are being used as clickbait (although we all saw this coming from the day of their births), but, here ya’ go, Chuckles. Here’s your heir, good luck to you! Here’s the one you coddled and spoiled and propped up at the literal expense of your other son. Here’s the one whose secrets you hide while you throw your other son to the press wolves.
You and Pegs make a glorious feuding pair. Long may the animosity, backstabbing, leaks, and stepping on each others news cycles reign.
The kids are fine but I do think the effort to lighten their hair has become problematic at this point. It really speaks to the value system that they must be seen as blonde -ish in order to be special, which given the obvious racism in this family, is just disturbing.
It was fine to do once maybe, but to keep it up for years so they don’t look like the brunettes they are is so wrong. Brown hair is beautiful. These kids are cute. Stop trying to make them look like Spencers.
As far as I can tell, Louis is the brunette. George and Charlotte have dirty blond hair, which probably lightens when exposed to the sun for long periods during tropical vacations, and in the summer months.
In the photos of Kate’s Christmas Carol and today photos even Luis hair seem lighten…not so brown anymore…
I don’t know about that… As a kid, my hair color lightened while I was growing up, particularly after holidays that I mostly spent outdoors. But my brother’s hair went from golden to auburn. They were recently in Mustique, so maybe that’s why they all look on the path to blonde.
Poo, who cares. Other than caring about their overexposure (the social media kind) the kids are adorable and the only thing the royals have going for them.
As much as I agree with my Harry & Meghan don’t show their children, I would love to see them.
The bots and derangers would not leave them alone in comments sections. Meghan and harry issued a video of Meghan reading to Archie and the comments were horrible. I don’t blame them for not issuing photos.
Same. It’s the epitome of “this is why we can’t have nice things”. I don’t blame Harry and Meghan one bit, the trolls were horrific in their comments on that video.
I may be wrong, but I think George’s right arm is around Charlotte (laid along the back of the bench), so she not only has to put her arm up around the taller George, but also over HIS arm, which makes her shoulder/arm look even more uncomfortable/out of whack.
However, more importantly — they may have had better pictures of the kids, ones where all three of them are looking at the camera, but THIS shot reinforces the “Louis is the class clown!” narrative. He continues to be Harry-fied to provide contrast to George’s “future king” persona.
The fact that they made Charlotte the focus of both photos is worrying… i have the suspicion that they seem to know that their “fans” are obsessed with her as the only girl with a possibility of future sparkle for them (traditionally women attract more attention due to clothing, jewelry etc in monarchy) and they’re OK with exploiting this for obvious PR. Not to mention that she seems at ease with the attention and capable of handling major events despite being only 8 years old.. I hope I’m wrong…
It is said Charlotte is the one giving boss energy irl. I can’t but find appropiate that the chosen setup was one that appealed to their dynamics as siblings, and made them feel the most comfortable.
I don’t think you are wrong,
This is a great capture. Natural and good vibes. Five stars.
Kate can’t come up with an original hat idea to save her life? Pathetic. Nearly identical to Meghan’s 2018 hat. “Be gone with them!” but copy every thing she wears.
“This is your bench, where life will begin, for you and our son, our baby, our kin.” ~ Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, “The Bench”
Total coincidence then that the kids of the Wailses of Keensington Palace are sitting on a bench, right?
I mean, no one in that *very much not a racist family* has ever copied anyone of the Sussexes – or what they’re doing before, right?
Because the Sussexes are irrelevant and no one ever thinks of them, right?
So of course they’re not starting now, not even by doing BW pics at Christmas, right?
Merry Day X between 2023 and 2024 to those that still celebrate with leftover turkey, or eggnog, or other goodies and delicacies.
🍜🍽🧁🍸
This photograph is terrible.
—The backdrop. When you use a seamless backdrop it emphasizes the objectness of the subject as all context is removed. That’s why artists photgraph ceramics and small sculptures against a seamless backdrop so that all the details of the object are clearly presented. This backdrop makes the subects less human and more object-like. And when you do use a seamless backdrop, you never pool on the floor as that is a distraction from the subject.
—The choice to use black and white makes the portrait too stark and harsh.
The bench is too big, as if there should be another child, and its stark lines and spindles have cage-like associations.
—Having Charlottes hair so light (whether natural or artificial) AND hanging down AND having her in the middle makes her the focal point. Why? And as noted her pose looke uncomfortable amd artifical. Her feet don’t even touch the floor but she’s made to look older (her hair and straining upward to put her arm around George. Again, why?).
A good photographer wouldn’t take this photo, much less release it to the public.
Do William and Kate have terrible advisors? Or do they not listen to any feedback? Or do their advisors hate them?
There is something captivating about Charlotte. She may have some of Grandma Diana and Uncle Harry shine.
Their pose is awkward. I don’t know why Charlotte’s arm is UP over George’s shoulder. It throws her toward Louie. Oh, okay. I guess that’s one way to put distance between the two young children and have George sand out a bit.
Why don’t they stop using these children? They are not working royals and there’s no reason to do this to them. I think the adults, WanK, should use themselves to usurp KFC’s Christmas message.
Their pose is awkward. I don’t know why Charlotte’s arm is UP over George’s shoulder. It throws her toward Louie. Oh, okay. I guess that’s one way to put distance between the two young children and have George stand out a bit.
Why don’t they stop using these children? They are not working royals and there’s no reason to do this to them. I think the adults, WanK, should use themselves to usurp KFC’s Christmas message.
If they are using these kids for their PR and shift to their own narratives, it’s beyond Sad.
Every photo with Louis on it looks like he’s been photoshopped in. That being said, they should have used this photo for their Christmas card but the lazy duo loves the spotlight too much to share it with their children.