Last year, the day before Valentine’s Day, the Prince and Princess of Wales did something they had never done before: they posted a “lovey-dovey” photo of themselves for the holiday and publicly wished everyone a happy V-Day. The actual photo had been taken in 2024, as part of the bizarre commercial/photoshoot they organized that summer. Well, Prince William and Kate are showing a willingness to stick with something that was sort of praised in a half-assed way!
This year, Kensington Palace posted yet another (old) photo of William and Kate. At least she’s not groping him and at least William doesn’t look like he wants to be anywhere else. It’s actually a nice photo, in my opinion – while they’re not exactly basking in joy, they seem… resigned to whatever this is. This was taken by photographer Josh Shinner at Anmer Hall in Norfolk in April 2025. Kate does this at least once a year now – she’ll bring in a photographer and they’ll do multiple set-ups with the kids and use pics from that one photoshoot for the next year. Photos from this April 2025 photoshoot were released for the kids’ birthdays last year, and they also used one of the April pics for their 2025 Christmas card.
Is this some of this damage control as well? Of course. I keep thinking about that tabloid story about how Will and Kate are thinking of doing a TV interview or documentary. Like… the Windsors are in a full-blown crisis, and I don’t think these business-as-usual “release one grim photo from a year ago” moves are really getting it done.
The Prince and Princess of Wales have shared a previously unseen photograph to mark Valentine's Day today.
The loved-up snap was taken at Anmer Hall, their Norfolk home, in April of last year by photographer Josh Shinner. https://t.co/wDPp28Nlta
— Emily Ferguson (@emilyinpalace) February 14, 2026
Photos courtesy of Kensington Palace and Josh Shinner for KP.
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- The Prince and Princess of Wales arrive for the state banquet at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, on day one of US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump’s second state visit to the UK Featuring: William, Prince of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Windsor, United Kingdom When: 17 Sep 2025 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
“they seem… resigned to whatever this is”
Perfect caption.
Ugh, it looks like someone ran a filter over just Kate’s face in their Valentine’s photo. ‘Unsharpen Mask’ anyone?
Agreed. too much Photoshop on her face. and the background is distracting.
They should at least try to fix the wonky Botox brow because it looks very off.
See, if I were her, I’d stop messing around with my actual face and just keep using that filter. It’s not like she makes enough public appearances for anyone to notice that she doesn’t actually look like that.
William has the worst “smile” I have ever seen. He looks like he wants to be anywhere else and he probably does.
It looks like he grits his teeth together and opens his lips.
came here to say to say the same, William-Worst-Smile. He even uses that terrible grimace/smile when photographed the kids sans Kate.
He *always* looks like an animal that’s baring its teeth. The ONLY times he has what could pass for a genuine looking smile is at a football outing or “over a pint” kind of event. I get that he was cursed with the oversized Windsor Horse Teeth ™, but damn, why didn’t his orthodontist file them down to “normal size” when he was still a kid?
Neither William nor Harry had the orthodontics they needed. William needs photo training. If that’s his natural smile he needs to learn to exaggerate it so the corners of his mouth turn up.
@2131jan William actually has Diana’s teeth, but with a much too small palate. Charlotte has the same teeth, but with Kate’s face structure and a much wider jaw, so they already look much better on her
Both Harry & William had braces as kids , but William’s got that Windsor u-shaped palate like Beatrice does & Andrew & I don’t know who all. I don’t know if that’s fixable. The gritted-tooth smile is behavioral, though, and that CAN be fixed.
I think he has serious mental health struggles (that he probably self medicates) and this constant struggle is apparent on his face. In his case I can’t sympathize, it’s just what it is. Same reason for his physical awkwardness that worsened in recent years IMO.
She has the hair and wigs in place a Nd he has the scruffy beard. It looks forced photo op.
I’ve noticed a wealth of WandK stories, how they told the kids about her cancer, their early relationship, how in love they are, the stories go on, and all I can think about is the sense of panic and distraction. Since the news came out about the Earthshot donor and his mentions in the Epstein file, especially the torture video, KP is in PR overdrive and now we know why the crisis manager was hired.
Yes there was a definite crisis manager deployment because in addition to this photo, there were bs stories in Marie Claire, Hello and even the Times with some version of them being in love.
The comments underneath the social media posts are ripping the, apart. Especially when places like the BBC release this photo and pretend it’s news when it’s really PR.
But I suspect that post of Harry and Lili will get way more traction.
Yeah Hello and People have definitely been receiving briefings, very soppy and don’t forget Kate had “cancer cells present”. 🙄
Their 15th wedding anniversary is near and they need to take advantage of the traditional family image that William cultivates as opposed to his father and oncle.
Yeah, they also hit us with another yawn worthy piece about how Kate is the “children’s princess” again. The mass release of articles was so obvious, and pathetic. You people are harboring a pedophile on your private estate. Stop fucking talking about anything related to children and how much you care about them. You care about yourself and your piles of stolen wealth.
Yes big roll out yesterday. It was too much IMO. Maybe I’m just too ‘online’ but it was over the top and felt orchestrated (which it was obviously). It will work on certain groups but I actually don’t think this helps the royals with the average person. Everyone is talking about Epstein and all of the coverups (not just prince andrew). It feels like they are using a PR handbook that is outdated.
The crisis manager is leaning into leave this couple and little family alone. They are just picking themselves up from cancer and have already endured so much behind the scenes. They are Mr and Mrs Virtuous, clean cut, devoted to each other and their brood of small children. They only do good works and uphold so many charities and good causes . Honestly people WE are so lucky to have a FK and FQ with solid family values. Nature, long country walks, dogs and the laughter of their children is all the need to lead good, clean lives. Then there is their matchless devotion to good works, no one works as hard as these two according to a royal sources. Andrew is just a blip and will soon fade into deserved oblivion. Really let’s celebrate these two magnificent examples of royal dedication to a life of service and just rejoice at our luck in having them ruling over us for decades and decades. So excited to contemplate an endless future release of artistic stills of this happy couple whatever else is in the world because they will always be rich, carefree and totally in lurve!!
What is even more gross about the stories mentioning how they announced Kate had cancer present to the kids story is that this was two years ago, she got treatment but somehow we are supposed to still feel bad when the Epstein victims are either dead or still dealing with the trauma of being treated like disposable toys.
They are placing the feelings of the rich white tax payer funded kids above the real trauma the women are experiencing.
WAAAAAY too much. They slapped story after story up on People, and I laughed so hard. Look how in love Will and Kate are! Meghan and Harry went to an early Valentine’s Day dinner and here’s a cute photo of Harry and Lili! OH NOES!!!! Let’s all snuggle up on Valentine’s Day and read all about how we told our kids their mom has cancer, well over a year after we announced that she is in remission from said cancer. It’s a heartwarming bit of news, absolutely appropriate for VALENTINE’S DAY PR. They are so effing bad at this.
I’m interested in what they expected to come out from the Files. Like, she was obviously hired in advance of this (or possible separation announcement??), but there’s been no ground work lain.
They didn’t know what connections were going to be exposed, otherwise they definitely wouldn’t have sent him to Saudi Arabia, right before two of his middle eastern close connections were shown in the Files.
I’m guessing this is the beginning of more exposure for his circle, I’m wondering how much closer it gets to the monarchy than his uncle.
I’m thinking that there may be more about William in those files, and while the powers that be work to suppress this, the crisis manager is amateurishly flooding the transatlantic sycophantic media with “heart-tugging” stories about William and Kate. I think that the crisis manager was also brought in to deal with whatever is coming down the pike regarding their relationship. We did not get the recent news that Kate is STILL trying to ostracise Rose from “royal circles” out of nowhere, for example. There are several things seemingly coming to a head for William, and he knows it, hence his public flake-out for more than a year now.
SO many reporters were tweeting that these two “and their lovely children are the future of the monarchy” yesterday that I had to stop reflexively rolling my eyes for my own wellbeing.
Yes, they’re trying to distract from the Epstein file links to William, but it’s not working. For one thing, what *could* be gleaned from the wall to wall Schrödinger’s cancer coverage in the Sunday papers (crisis manager) were these salient points:
1. William was shocked and in disbelief (“Prince’s disbelief at Kate’s cancer diagnosis” is the actual headline on one front page) = he could NOT believe that Kate would launch such a Hail Mary card just as he was beginning to get into the swing of his new “single” life and looking forward to offloading her. Now, I can bet that he did not expect Kate to blow up “pre-cancerous cells” into a full-fledged “cancer battle” despite several “remissions” by her own mouth.
2. “Told pals it was BRUTAL and disorienting” = What Kate (and her mother) did was absolutely callous. I cannot BELIEVE that she would do this to me!
That is why almost all of the stories about Kate’s cancer story, of which the public is conveniently reminded whenever questions are being asked or accountability demanded, tend to focus on how the news affected WILLIAM. Several people out there know what the actual truth is, and they are clearly itching to publish it, but too cowardly to do so.
These two are going to need several more crisis managers before the year is out.
There is a sense of desperation in these photo ops
Agree. I don’t think they ever released a Valentine’s Day photo before. The fact that Meghan did a post last year is the only reason they did this. It’s so sad and everyone can see it.
I happened to catch their People Magazine strategy yesterday, and it completely cracked me up. They posted this photo from the one day they spent together with a photographer in 2025, with no bother to change outfits and make it look like they liked each other on two separate days. Meghan put the photo of Harry and Lili on Instagram, and People almost immediately switched to a story about how William and Kate broke the news of her cancer to the kids. On Valentine’s Day. Just to get Harry and Lili off of the top of People. It wasn’t even a little bit subtle. My God, the desperation was just rolling off of them in waves yesterday.
I refuse to read People about the royals, only click for Harry and Meghan. I don’t want the left behinds assuming they’ve got ANY US interest. I read it here.
Yeah no. Doing one photo shoot and then releasing all the pictures over the period of a year is BORING. This was from a year ago! And it doesn’t look new bc it’s the same clothes. They look fine and lovely but it feels boring and minimal effort.
It’s amusing they did the black and white couple photo only for Meghan to post a color photo of Harry and Lili. They’re always at least two steps behind.
I still remember when the derangers and press were saying that posting B/W photos wasn’t royal or against protocol. Now William and Kate do it all the time now.
Protocol seems to be whatever the current monarch has a whim for. But yeah, everything they did was wrong but the Wales started doing it and it was fine. The hypocrisy is loud.
Am I the only one that sees the Grinch when William smiles?
I see the Wallace guy from Wallace and grommet.
WALLACE – THAT’s it!! Thank you, that’s who he looks like. (Like trying to remember a word & when it comes, it is a relief!)
Still they didn’t wish each other happy Valentine’s Day.
I have a theory about why William and Kate started posting photos for Valentine’s Day. They’re competing with Meghan. I think when Meghan was a working royal she asked if she and Harry could to do a Valentine’s Day post on KP’s page but she was told it couldn’t be done. When Meghan returned to IG last year William and Kate knew that she would do a Valentine’s Day post so they posted that photo from the video. It will be interesting to see if they keep this up.
Hmm, you’re right. They started posting for valentines just after Meghan rejoined Instagram. Was that just a year ago? Wow.
I think it’s a distraction from Willy’s donor being mentioned in the Epstein file.
I think it’s a combination of things yes distractions from Epstein and the Arabia trip plus that’s what Meg does it’s all rolled up into one old picture!
That is not a photo I would describe as “loved up”. It looks like they are tolerating each other. When a couple are really in love, their body language shows it. There is never any connection between these two. In the pictures of Will with the children, they look very happy and comfortable with him.
Very much “posing with a coworker” vibe.
Not one of their photos look like a couple attracted to each other. And you can look at all of them from 2011 on and not find one with sincere emotion. Unless that emotion is disgust from William.
The only pic, IMO, that seemed to have genuine emotion, ever, was not long after they married, and they spontaneously hugged at the Olympics.
https://blackwomenconnect.com/content/236144/photo-of-the-day-prince-william-kate-middleton-hug-it-out-during-london-olympics-track-cycling-race
And even that one at one point had video which made it clear it was a set up and kate was simply waiting for the right moment to jump on and do the hug. Remember the fake tour the France pose video? Well Kate was in her prime around this time for set ups and the main difference was that William was willing to play along in 2012.
There are never any candid photos of this family, everything is posed. We have so many candid photos of Harry and Meghan and you can feel the chemistry between them in the photos.
I could write a few things about them and this photo but I can’t get into it today. They’re just so boring.
That’s my main thing. It’s giving nothing. It’s a photo from a year ago. In clothes we’ve seen. In a background we’ve seen. Like come on.
“Go on, give us even less” is their motto.
But if ever there was a moment to not “give less” it would be now, jeez. If the strategy is look we’re a cute couple with a happy family distraction, then they gotta do better than this old photo shoot. Although it’s probably almost time for their next yearly photo shoot.
William ruins every photo he is in with his insincere smile.
Previously unseen photo? Is the press trolling them? The photo is almost the same one they released for Christmas apart from the children.. in that picture Kate’s head looked disproportionately larger than the rest and we commented that she looked photoshopped in..now, at least, the photo seems real …I guess it’s something…on another note, this kind of staged photo is the reason why nobody believes their great love story: there wasn’t any candid photo during last year with the 2 of them so that they can share it? Obviously not…they are incapable of being real and spontaneous…how do they expect a staged documentary on their lives would be a success?
They always do the same layout too. Kate angled toward William and he’s faced straight on. Most of the “in love” photos are just her looking at him and he’s looking elsewhere. That’s not a couple in sync.
Meanwhile you see how Harry actually looks at his wife. Hell even Charles and Camilla look at each other in photos.
William doesn’t have the same smile and doesn’t look so tense when he’s with Jason.
In the “love up” photos of Kate and William, they always look fake, uncomfortable.
I can’t believe they are still using the only photoshoot from last year. So boring, so lazy and yet predictable. They are the trolls from Windsor.
One thing I’ll say is that the kids seem genuinely happy with their dad. Oddly Kate is just sort of there.
Before the Epstein files dropped, Prince William did not post a public birthday message for Kate Middleton last month. Instead, what stood out was a sudden tightening of image control, with talk of crisis PR support circulating even before the Epstein-royal headlines picked up speed.
The contrast is glaring. A real personal milestone passed with silence, yet a glossy couple photo appeared the moment pressure started building. It gives the impression that genuine moments get ignored, while carefully staged content rolls out exactly when the monarchy needs a softer headline.
The pattern now feels obvious. When scrutiny rises, out comes a carefully edited family moment, a nostalgic caption and a flood of soft coverage to carry it. Rather than rebuilding trust, the tactic risks doing the opposite. Each staged display of normalcy widens the gap between image and reality and reinforces the impression that presentation still comes first, while direct, unscripted answers remain in short supply.
The comments under the posts from BBC, ITV and Sky News under the loved up photo show a lot of negative “this is just PR” or “stop diverting from Epstein and Andrew” type comments.
No one is buying this.
They should start working like all the royals, we’re tired of seeing them appear three times a month in meaningless events and posing like lovebirds.
How many people are still “loved-up” after they’ve been married 15 years, had three kids, and been together — off and on — for 25? Didn’t they meet in 2001? …why the never-ending need to portray some great love story? By now their built life together should speak for itself. It’s the “show, don’t tell” advice that you get in expository writing classes from secondary school. FWIW if they actually put the work in — as Meghan and Harry do, by investing in people other than themselves, and supporting organisations that help others — it might be possible to credit them with some global concern and goodwill. Which would make it more plausible to posit that they have some personal redeeming qualities. They have none. This is image management. It’s not a labour of love, their life and their work is just utterly insipid posturing and propaganda. The subtweet of this particular photo (nearly a year old!!!!) could be that line from “Before Sunset,” when Jesse admits to Celine, “I run a day care with someone I used to date.”
Their story was never portrayed as a great love story even at the beginning. The need to do so now is because of Harry’s and Meghan’s great love story in which the prince quitted everything for his princess. People loved that and the couple. That’s why William and Kate try to rewrite history and pretend to have a live story 25 years later. They hope that people would buy it.
The phrase “loved up” is doing some heavy lifting here! I have never seen a photo of Peg and KKKhate looking like they’re in love. Never. Not even when they were newlyweds.
The media think that if they keep repeating themselves, we’ll somehow be duped.
I’m sorry but he has got to give up on this beard. It is so deeply unattractive. It just looks like he’s got a dirty face.
He will have the ugly beard until he dies to spite the late QE who made him shave but okayed Harry’s beard. He is a deranged narcissist who cannot be told no. He lives his life in a perpetual imaged competition with his brother who moved on 6 years ago. As terrible as it looks, the beard also conceals how haggard and hungover he looks. He has lost drastic amounts of weight periodically and the public would question his gaunt appearance if the weight-loss showed clearly on his face. Will-not was born into the monarchy and Keener has been in the inner circle and chasing big blue for more than 25 years. It is just stunning that neither can fake a smile and happy photograph
How is Kate supporting the call for truth and accountability for Epstein’s victims – victims of sex trafficking, torture and when they were young girls, possibly murder in some instances – as a woman on the verge of becoming the future Queen of the U.K? Has she been helping the Windsors cover up for Prince Andrew and protect him from accountability?
When Diana was the Princess of Wales, she was on the forefront of bold issues and causes. Will Kate meet this moment and be bold on this issue? 🤷🏽♀️
Crisis manager is positioning them as Mr and Mrs Virtuously happily married university sweethearts who are nurturing a small family. Clean cut, wholesome, stable, open, steady and a good example to contrast against Vice contained in the Epstein Files. Obviously it would be great if they both were solid hard workers with a track record of successful projects over their adult life. So the profiles could be about the projects and what has been achieved. Instead they have to focus on the family image, perfect love story which feels very OTT and contrived given how awkwardly they interact with eachother and even the photos capture her making an effort and him looking very Ben Affleck after the love is long gone. Honest coverage of them has never happened and it isn’t about to start now. Once Charles and Diana were over we were well prepared because we could see it happen in real time and The Scum did their last Royal Tour with the headline, The Glums. The Firm is in crisis so will continue to promote FK and FQ as wholesome and steadfast. Will and Kate really need to focus on working a lot harder and earning their expensive keep. All of this current scandal: corruption and cover up just makes people ask why are we paying for this clown show? Is Andrew above the law? The RF aren’t better than any one else just richer and a lot more privileged without facing any consequences for criminal conduct!
All of this!👆👆👆
They look like siblings whose mom ordered them to smile for the camera — Willy especially.
Zero romantic vibes.