The British royal family, like most monarchies, likes to follow traditions. Of course, over time they have incorporated some new customs, also with the arrival of new technologies. Since William of England and Kate Middleton became parents for the first time, with the birth of their first-born, Prince George, in July 2013, one of their traditions has been to celebrate the birthday of each of their three children by spreading a new photo of the little ones through their official profiles on social networks. They did it last week when the little one, Prince Louis, turned 6 years old. And they did it this Thursday, May 2, to celebrate the 9th birthday of his middle daughter, Princess Charlotte.
But something has changed in both cases, and the tradition on both occasions has not continued as it had been in the last decade. Typically, Kensington Palace released the children’s photograph to the British media under embargo the night before their birthday, so that they could include it in their paper editions. And then the palace spread it around midnight on its social networks. But both on the occasion of Luis’s birthday last week and on Carlota’s, both photos have been spread directly on the social networks of the princes of Wales. The reason? According to the British media, William of England and Kate Middleton were considering whether or not to spread the photograph of little Louis, especially after last February the future queen of the British asked citizens for privacy when announcing that she suffers from cancer. . “We trust that you understand that, as a family, we now need some time, space and privacy while I complete my treatment,” he said in the video with which he announced that after his abdominal operation, last January, cancer was found. for the one who had already started treatment.
The debate was about what the new photographs of their children were going to be like and when they were going to be released. Especially after the image crisis generated when the photo published for Mother’s Day was denounced by six major agencies as a manipulated image. In fact, Kensington Palace itself assured after Luis’ photo was published last week that the image had not been edited.
Finally, the princes of Wales decided to disseminate the new photograph of little Luis as a token of gratitude for the support and expressions of affection received. So they have done the same with Princess Charlotte. In both cases there is a tradition that has been maintained: Kate Middleton has worked as a photographer for her children. “Happy 9th birthday, Princess Charlotte. Thank you all for the loving messages today,” she says in the message that accompanies the photograph in which a smiling princess is seen. According to several British media, the photo was taken by Kate a few days ago in the gardens of her house in Windsor. It is the same message that accompanied the photo of Prince Louis. And the same postscript: the one that proves that the photographer is the Princess of Wales.
Charlotte, third in line to the British throne (after her father and older brother Prince George), is the first British princess not to be surpassed in the line of succession by a younger brother. This is because her grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, changed the rules in 2011 with the Succession to the Crown Act so that all royal children born after that year would have an equal right to the throne, regardless of gender. .
William of England has already resumed his official agenda after the weeks of Easter vacation, which began just the day the video was released in which Kate Middleton reported on her state of health and silenced weeks of rumors and theories. In one of these events, on April 30, the heir to the British throne limited himself to answering “we are all fine” when one of the citizens who came to greet him asked him about his wife and his three children. The one who has resumed his official agenda this week is Carlos III. The monarch chose a particularly symbolic place for this: last Tuesday, almost three months after undergoing treatment for “a form of cancer,” he went with his wife to the Macmillan Cancer Center in London.
The one who has not been seen again has been the Princess of Wales since she made her video statement, as she has stepped away from her royal duties and, for now, there is still no date for her return. She alone has been seen in an unpublished photograph of her wedding day that they published on April 29 to celebrate her 13 years of marriage. As for her children, her last appearance in public was on December 25, when, with the entire family, they followed the tradition of attending Christmas Day mass in Sandringham.
