Prince of Wales and his three adoring children are pictured to mark Father’s Day

Relaxed, smiling and very clearly colour-coordinated, the Prince of Wales and his three adoring children strike a joyful image for Father’s Day.

In this photograph, released to mark the occasion, Prince George, nine, and Princess Charlotte, eight, gaze up at their father while Prince Louis, five, beams directly into the camera as he throws his arms around Dad in a giant bear hug.

The image also contains a subtle but poignant tribute to the children’s great-grandmother, as they are posing on a bench installed at Windsor to commemorate the late Queen’s 90th birthday on April 19, 2016.

It was taken by photographer and family friend Millie Pilkington earlier this year on the Windsor Estate – possibly at the same time she took the images of Louis in a wheelbarrow to mark his fifth birthday in April. 

He’s certainly wearing the same outfit: a £75 Fair Isle sweater from Lallie London over a collared white-and-blue checked shirt.

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Relaxed, smiling and very clearly colour-coordinated, the Prince of Wales and his three adoring children strike a joyful image for Father’s Day

George mirrors dad in shirt and jeans while Charlotte is wearing a pretty but unfussy daisy print dress by Rachel Riley London, one of mum Kate’s favourite children’s designers.

There was already a wait of up to eight weeks to get hold of the £59 puff-sleeved button-front dress, even before this image was released late last night.

The Princess of Wales might not be in the picture – it marks Father’s Day, after all – but as an amateur photographer she has an eye for a good shot and had the final say on which picture would be released. 

A similar photograph was issued last year. Then, the image captured a joyful moment on a family holiday in Jordan.

All three children were seen roaring with laughter at a joke that, given William’s blushes, might have been at their dad’s expense. 

For Father’s Day 2020, William released a picture of the children clambering on his back on the grass.

Last year, the image captured a joyful moment on a family holiday in Jordan. All three children were seen roaring with laughter at a joke that, given William’s blushes, might have been at their dad’s expense

For Father’s Day 2020, William released a picture of the children clambering on his back on the grass 

Every photo is evidence of the carefree childhood William is so determined to provide his sons and daughter. But he has also pledged to ‘expose’ them to homelessness in the same way his mother the late Princess of Wales did for him.

In an interview with The Sunday Times ahead of a launch of a campaign to ‘end homelessness’ in Britain, Prince William said he wanted to do this so ‘they [will] grow up knowing that… some of us are very fortunate, some of us need a little bit of a helping hand, some of us need to do a bit more where we can to help others improve their lives’.