Prince Louis' Birthday Photo Reveals a Few Changes

The Prince and Princess of Wales released the traditional annual photo to mark their son Prince Louis' seventh birthday Wednesday, and the social media post revealed a few changes. Most obviously, the youngest child of Prince William and the former Kate Middleton has lost his two front teeth, People reports. He's also wearing full-length jeans, which may not seem odd to the parents of most 7-year-olds, but as Vanity Fair explains, "short pants" are typically worn by children of the British upper class until they're around eight years old. It's not clear what precipitated Louis' early move to long trousers, but he has worn them publicly before, though the prior instances involved pants worn as part of suits Louis donned for Christmas concerts, presumably in cold weather.

Another change: Kate is an amateur photographer who typically takes her children's birthday photos, as she's done each year for Louis other than the year he turned five (when she herself was in the photo). But this year, Josh Shinner was the photographer. He's taken photos of the family before, including for their Christmas card in 2023, the BBC reports. The last change? William and Kate also released a video of Louis in which he is heard speaking—a rarity for the young prince. (More Prince Louis stories.)