Royal Family members typically publish new photos of their children to mark their birthdays in the early years, before they begin royal duties and are seen more often by the public. But the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who stepped back from royal duties in 2020, took on this tradition by posting previously-unseen snaps of their youngest child, Lilibet, to mark her first birthday.
The youngest Sussex turned one on Saturday, at the height of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in the UK.
To mark the occasion, the Duke, 37, and Duchess, 40, made public an adorable photograph of Lilibet, who has only been photographed once before.
She has only previously been seen by the public in a Christmas card produced by the Duke and Duchess, in which the couple smile and play with Lilibet and her elder brother, three-year-old Archie.
But the birthday portrait is reminiscent of a royal tradition that Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince William adhere to for their children’s birthdays, as have royals in many decades past.
Most recently, heartwarming photographs of Prince Louis were published on the youngest Cambridge child’s fourth birthday in April.
The prince, wearing a grey jumper adorned with stars, grins and runs with a cricket ball on the beach in Norfolk in the charming snaps.
But there is one key difference between the portraits chosen by the Sussexes and the Cambridges, Professor Pauline MacLaran has told Express.co.uk.
Professor MacLaran, co-author of “Royal Fever”, said the disparity lies in precisely who is behind the camera, capturing these precious early childhood moments immortalised in portrait form.
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He attended a birthday celebration for Lilibet on Windsor grounds over the weekend.
In a separate photograph taken by Mr Harriman and later posted on his social media, Meghan and Lilibet face the camera alongside Mr Harriman’s family.
Meghan, 40, and Prince Harry, 37, said they were “incredibly touched by the countless birthday wishes for their daughter”, publicising the picture of their daughter grinning at a picnic at Frogmore Cottage.
In the photo, Lilibet smiles while wearing a white headband, sitting on a patch of grass in a pale blue dress.
Her ginger hair, clearly recalling that of her father, can clearly be seen along with a number of baby teeth.
The photo itself was described as “candid” and “spontaneous” at the “casual, intimate” celebration.
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