Britain’s Prince and Princess of Wales have released a new photo of Prince Louis to mark his 6th birthday on Tuesday, the first image to be released by the family since a photo-editing scandal erupted last month.
A royal source said the Waleses were grateful for the birthday messages they have received for Louis and the photo was taken by Kate, 42, in the last few days in Windsor. “The family were cognisant of the fact that they have asked for privacy during the princess’ recovery, however, on balance, they wanted to share the image on their social media channels as a way to thank those who have sent birthday wishes,” the source continued.
However, a handful of instances have also seen renowned professional photographers, including Mario Testino, Chris Jackson and Millie Pilkington, capture some of the contemporaneous portraits.The Waleses have released a celebratory photo of Louis each year to mark his birthday. He was last seen in public during the family’s traditional Christmas Day walk to church alongside his mom on the Sandringham estate.
However, only a few hours after its release, several international news outlets pulled the photograph from circulation citing concerns of manipulation at the source. A second round of controversy was sparked weeks later when another official photograph was identified as being digitally manipulated.