For many a millennial, the in-studio family portrait is a rite of passage. Now the royal millennials – Prince William and Kate Middleton — are passing the torch to the next generation, enlisting their royal brood for a black-and-white photo session in which the whole fam wears casual white button-downs and blue jeans, just like Gap intended.
Unlike the awkward barefoot family photos many of us were subjected to in the ’90s, the Wales family all wore shoes in their Christmas portrait, which was shot by Josh Shinner and unveiled to the public on December 9. Prince Louis, age 5, and Princess Charlotte, age 8, wore lace-free sneakers, while Prince George, age 10, and Prince William sported smart dress shoes. Matriarch Kate Middleton wore ballet flats.
While it may be a familiar look to us normies, the Wales’ festival snap is actually quite unusual for the royal family, whose Christmas card photos tend to feature the famous family frolicking carefree through the foliage of one of their country estates. Some royal analysts have suggested that the more casual in-studio portrait is part of the monarchy’s mission to come across as more relatable. Not many people have access to a palatial backdrop or a picturesque country home, but they do, the thinking goes, have access to one of those high-street portrait studios.
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Since the death of Queen Elizabeth in September 2022, we’ve witnessed the Kate and William, as well as King Charles III and Queen Camilla, making strides to tone down the lavish displays of wealth and high society snobbery that have soured the public’s opinion of the monarchy in the last hundred years. For the Princess of Wales, this initiative has manifested as a more modern wardrobe of pantsuits, everyday denim, and a dialling down of pomp and circumstance wherever possible.
Mirror mirror on the wall, who has the shiniest hair of all?
This article was originally published by GLAMOUR US.
