On June 21, the future king of England turned another year older. Prince William is now officially 42 years old, and though things have been anything but normal for the royal family in recent months, wife Kate Middleton still participated in their usual tradition by sharing a new portrait of Will that she'd snapped herself. This photo is different from the ones we've seen in years past — Will is actually letting loose!
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The new photo seems to have been taken during a family beach day.
In the image, William and his three children, George, Charlotte, and Louis, are all holding hands as they jump in the air. According to People, the palace has confirmed that the photo was taken by Kate in Norfolk, England.
"Happy birthday Papa, we all love you so much! Cx," Kate captioned the photo.
Commenters gushed over how adorable the photo is.
Along with sending their birthday wishes, people simply couldn't get enough of this fun moment between a dad and his kids.
"What a fabulous photo. You can feel the love and joy in this family. Happy Birthday Prince William," one person wrote.
Another added, "What an absolutely gorgeous photo! Happy birthday to The Prince of Wales! Can’t imagine all that you’ve gone through the past few months but you’ve carried the burden with grace!"
The photo reminds some people of another royal moment.
On X (formerly Twitter), one royal watcher compared the photo of William's kids to footage of his dad's family playing together on the same beach in 1957. Here, we can see King Charles and Princess Anne playing with dad Prince Philip in the sand.
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It's been a busy month for the royals so far.
Over the weekend, Kate joined her family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for Trooping the Colour to take in the king's birthday parade. This was the first public appearance the princess has made since she revealed she was undergoing "preventative chemotherapy" after a planned abdominal surgery earlier this year.
Happy birthday, Will!
This year must be a pretty tough one for their family, with both Kate and Charles facing cancer treatment, but it seems like the Walses are still finding joy when they can. Here's hoping the year ahead is a happier one!
