In celebration of Prince Louis' first birthday on April 23, Kensington Palace released several adorable images taken by his proud mom, Kate Middleton, at their family home in Norfolk. In what has become something of a tradition, the Duchess of Cambridge takes these official photos of Louis and his older siblings, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, herself for the family's Instagram account, @KensingtonRoyal. (However, Louis' christening photos and the image for the Cambridges' last Christmas card were taken by Matt Porteous.)
"The Duchess has always been a very keen amateur photographer," revealed one palace insider. "She is such a hands-on mother that it's no surprise that she would be the one to take the most charming photographs of her children."
The insider added: "The Duchess' great love for her children comes through in all of her photographs. She wouldn't dream of hiring someone else to take the pictures marking birthdays and other sweet milestones in the children's lives."
(And if you want to take photos just like Middleton—and have an extra $2,500 in your bank account—she has reportedly used a Canon 5D Mark II DSLR when photographing George and Charlotte.)
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But Middleton isn't exactly an Instagram mom taking endless snapshots of her growing family for social media.
She studied photography while pursuing a degree in art history at St. Andrew's University in Scotland. During that time, she met celebrity portrait photographer Alistair Morrison. The noted lensman, whose photographs have been printed in publications from The Sunday Times to Vogue, worked with Middleton to help her develop her photographic style.
Morrison once told me about his experiences working with Middleton, who was then Prince William's girlfriend. He said the Duchess-to-be visited his gallery in Berkshire and showed him some of her work, looking for constructive criticism.
They stayed in touch and she worked briefly as Morrison's intern. In 2007, Middleton even curated a show of Morrison's work at a London gallery to raise money for UNICEF.
"Catherine is very, very good. She has a great eye and takes very beautiful detailed photographs," he said at the time. "She's quite talented."
Now, could Middleton be tapped to shoot the official photos of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's firstborn, who is due any minute? "That would certainly make the news," said my palace source. "I'm sure the Duchess of Sussex has very definite ideas about the first photographs of the new baby." And for more on Baby Sussex's debut, check out Here's Where the First Photos of Baby Sussex Will Likely Appear.
Diane Clehane is a New York-based journalist and author of Imagining Diana and Diana: The Secrets of Her Style.
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