EXCLUSIVEREBECCA ENGLISH: Kate's touching picture tribute to her 'rock' William with charming online post by their children - but sources say it is 'delightful one-off' from young royals
Arms entwined as they gaze out at the Norfolk landscape they love so much, this charming Father's Day photograph taken by the Princess of Wales of her husband and their children is a tribute to her 'rock'.
The accompanying social media post also bears the first message ever shared by Prince George, ten, Princess Charlotte, nine, and six-year-old Prince Louis. It reads simply: 'We love you, Papa. Happy Father's Day [with two love hearts] G, C & L'.
While many will be excited to see the young royals dip their toes into social media, sources are at pains to stress that this should not be seen as anything more than a delightful one-off.
The children – who also looked ecstatic to be out with their parents in public at Trooping the Colour at the weekend – simply wanted to show their love for William on a special day after what has undoubtedly been a difficult time for them all.
The message does, however, mark the first time the children have been given such a platform to make a public statement like this to a global audience, and is a sign of their growing maturity as young royals.
The photo showed the trio on a beach trip alongside their father, posing with their backs to the camera as they looked out to sea
The Father's Day photograph was taken by Kate (pictured arriving for the King's Birthday Parade) last month on the beach near Anmer Hall, their Norfolk home, during the half-term holidays
(from left to right) Prince George, the Prince of Wales, Prince Louis, the Princess of Wales, Princess Charlotte and King Charles III on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, London, to view the flypast following the Trooping the Colour ceremony
For their father, approaching his 42nd birthday next week, the last year has seen him step up to the plate as the Prince of Wales and heir to the throne, as well as having to deal with first his father's devastating cancer diagnosis and then that of his wife.
Throughout, William has dropped off his children at school each day, as well as cheered them on from the sidelines, in an attempt to keep their young lives as normal as possible amid such deep personal turmoil.
As anyone who has nursed a loved one through cancer knows, the tumble of emotions it brings can be hard to bear.
William will no doubt have found inner reserves of strength and resilience that even he did not know he had.
The Father's Day photograph was taken by Kate, 42, last month on the beach near Anmer Hall, their Norfolk home, during the half-term holidays.
Casually dressed in shorts, hoodies and polo shirts – with a cap for William – its sweet simplicity makes it the kind of family picture many of us have in our albums.
Just weeks before Kate had gone public with the news that she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy, with the family immediately travelling to East Anglia again to keep George, Charlotte and Louis away from the inevitable interest.
Both William and Kate's instinct when the gravity of her situation emerged was to ring-fence their family, while trying to find the best way to break the news gently to their children and enable them to come to terms with it in private.
The wide-open spaces, countryside and beaches of Norfolk have always been balm for the family's soul (indeed friends have long told me that they would move there permanently if they could).
Kate wrote a deeply personal message to the nation as she gives an update on her ongoing battle against cancer on Friday
Both William and Kate's (pictured during the Trooping the Colour ceremony) instinct when the gravity of her situation emerged was to ring-fence their family
The Prince of Wales shared a photo (pictured) of him playing football with the King to mark Father's Day
King Charles and Queen Camilla led the Father's Day tributes this morning with a touching video montage of Charles and Philip (pictured)
In a message to the nation on Friday, the princess spoke about the journey she had been on.
She made a point of including William by name and saying how much the messages of love and support they had received had meant to them both and helped them through 'some of the harder times'.
Friends say the couple are closer than ever and it was important for the princess personally to show what a 'team effort' it has been.
It is also clear, say sources, that her experience has been one for the family unit and Father's Day was the perfect opportunity for both herself and her children to highlight the role that 'Papa' has played in that.
Yesterday William also paid tribute to his own father by posting a picture of himself and Charles playing football in the gardens of Kensington Palace.
It was taken shortly before his second birthday and shows a formally dressed Charles, as it was an official birthday photoshoot, on June 12, 1984 kicking a ball to his delighted son. William's message read: 'Happy Father's Day, Pa. W'
At Buckingham Palace yesterday there was a poignant message on the King's behalf given that his own father, the Duke of Edinburgh, died in 2021 just before turning 100.
Accompanying clips of black-and- white home-movie footage show Charles with Philip as a young boy, as well his grandfather King George VI and mother Queen Elizabeth in relaxed family moments. The message read: 'Wishing all Dads, and those who may be missing their parents today, a relaxing Father's Day.'
