Update: I wrote all of this up about an hour ago, and then Kensington Palace published a portrait of Louis at 7:15 am EST.
Today is Prince Louis of Wales’s sixth birthday. You might not have realized it because Kensington Palace failed to post new photos of the birthday boy ahead of time. Usually, for the Wales kids’ birthdays, Kensington Palace will publish new birthday-portraits a day or two in advance, so all of the British papers can run them. That didn’t happen for Louis’s birthday this year – no advanced photos, and they just released a pic within the past few minutes.
Happy 6th Birthday, Prince Louis! 🎂
Thank you for all the kind wishes today.
📸 The Princess of Wales pic.twitter.com/TxshrI3WKO
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) April 23, 2024
This is the first Wales-kid birthday since Kensington Palace blamed the Princess of Wales for cobbling together the Mother’s Day frankenphoto. That Mother’s Day pic led to Reuters, AP, CNN, AFP and Getty issuing kill orders on the photo, and it also led to larger questions and investigations into palace-issued photos, some/many of which have been manipulated. AFP’s director compared KP to North Korea and it was a huge controversy. Remember when William and Kate’s advisor told the Times that the frankenphoto kill order was “hypocritical” because those media agencies have been publishing manipulated photos from the palace for a while? Yeah. It was bad.
It’s interesting that KP just went with a photo taken by Kate. For months, it felt like William and Kate’s mindset is: if you don’t like our manipulated photos, we’re just not going to issue ANY photos anymore, how about that? Like, they don’t realize that there’s a hidden option: they could just hire a real photographer to take some portraits of Louis and simply release those pics in a straight-forward fashion without manipulation.
Also: this is the first time we’ve seen Prince Louis since Christmas 2023. George was seen with his father on April 11th, at a football match. But the two younger kids had not been photographed at all since December 25, 2023. I would also argue that we have not had a credible and independently verifiable sighting of the Princess of Wales since Christmas as well.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Kensington Palace, Cover Images.
Britain’s Catherine, Princess of Wales (L) and Britain’s Prince Louis of Wales (R) watch Britain’s Prince William, Prince of Wales (not pictured) as he uses an excavator while taking part in the Big Help Out, during a visit to the 3rd Upton Scouts Hut in Slough, west of London on May 8, 2023, where the family joined volunteers helping to renovate and improve the building. – People across Britain were on Monday asked to do their duty as the celebrations for King Charles III’s coronation drew to a close with a massive volunteering drive.,Image: 774584418, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: DANIEL LEAL / Avalon 
FAIRFORD, ENGLAND – JULY 14: Prince Louis of Wales sits inside a vehicle on a C17 plane with Catherine, Princess of Wales during a visit to the Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford on July 14, 2023 in Fairford, England. The Prince and Princess of Wales have a strong relationship with the RAF, with the Prince having served with the Search and Rescue Force for over three years, based at RAF Valley in Anglesey. The Prince is Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Coningsby and The Princess is Honorary Air Commodore of the Air Cadets.,Image: 789121267, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon 
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
The Princess of Wales with Prince Louis during a visit to the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) at RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire. Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales with Prince Louis Where: Fairford, United Kingdom When: 14 Jul 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY** 
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