Kate Middleton posts adorable new Princess Charlotte photo
Kate Middleton has shared a new photo of Princess Charlotte as a royal expert explains the strategy behind the Duchess of Cambridge posting photos of her kids online.
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Kate Middleton and Prince William have shared a sweet new photo of their six-year-old daughter, Princess Charlotte, on Instagram, and it was all for a good cause.
The photo – one of three posted by Kate on Saturday local time – was released to draw attention to the plight of butterflies.
In the photo, Princess Charlotte gently cradles a brightly-coloured Red Admiral butterfly in her hands.
“We wanted to share these beautiful Peacock and Red Admiral butterflies as part of Big #ButterflyCount initiative taking place across the UK,” the royal couple wrote on Instagram alongside the photo.
“@savebutterflies are encouraging us all to count these incredible creatures because not only are they beautiful creatures to be around but they are also extremely important. Butterflies are vital parts of the ecosystem as both pollinators and components of the food chain,” they added.
“Hopefully you can beat last year’s total, @savebutterflies.”
The images were taken as Princess Charlotte participated in the Big Butterfly Count in Norfolk, where she lives with her parents and brothers.
Kate shared the photos to encourage other families to take part, too.
According to The Sun, the Cambridges are noted butterfly lovers, and took Prince George to the ‘sensational butterflies’ exhibit at London’s Natural History Museum for his first birthday.
Recently, a royal expert claimed the Duchess of Cambridge had “taken ownership of Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis’ public image”.
Keen photographer Kate often releases candid photos of her children each year, showing them at special events such as birthdays or school milestones.
Royal expert Camilla Tominey wrote in The Telegraph last month that the strategy is “unique” for the Cambridges and helps the family maintain a level of privacy for their children.
“The paparazzi – there’s no market anymore because the Duchess comes out with her own family photos and they’re far more valuable to the press than images taken at a long lens,” she wrote.
“That’s how the Cambridges are going to strike the balance, they’re going to give in order to receive a degree of privacy back.”
Separately, Ms Tominey said that Prince George’s appearance at the recent Euro 22 final between England and Italy was because the eight-year-old is “genuinely” a soccer fan, but added that “the Cambridges do want the public to see their children and have some degree of access to them.
“You’ve got balance the private and the public of their lives and there’s an expectation of seeing George grow up because he will one day be King,” she wrote.
“I think Prince George will have to be quite careful to preserve his own privacy as he becomes a teenager and his parents will be acutely aware he’s vulnerable.”
Ms Tominey said the Cambridge’s strategy has paid off.
“We had a situation when the children were first born when the couple were worried about paparazzi shots … Kate now saturates the market with her own imagery of the children. And I think we’ll see that continue.”
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Originally published as Kate Middleton posts adorable new Princess Charlotte photo
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