One member of the royal family who’s truly coming into his own of late is Prince William and Kate Middleton’s youngest child, Prince Louis. The young royal has stolen hearts since he was born in 2018, but as he grows up, he truly steals the show from his older siblings.
April 23, 2024, marks Louis’ 6th birthday, and there’s no doubt this year will bring even bigger things for the young royal as he continues his school journey, which he started in September 2022. Adorably, his favorite song is “Happy Birthday.” In honor of the prince’s special day, let’s take a look back at his life and some of the moments where he’s shown the public his charming personality.
Louis was born on April 23, 2018, at the same hospital where his father was born, London’s St. Mary’s Hospital. The prince, who emerged at around 11 a.m., was a healthy 8 pounds, 7 ounces. Beyond being the youngest of the Wales bunch, Louis is special in other ways, too. Louis is just fourth in line to the throne, as he is preceded by his father, William, and siblings Prince George and Princess Charlotte. Interestingly, Louis was the first male-born heir who would not precede his older sister in the royal succession.
The youngest Wales child is also an unusual contender for the title of Duke of Edinburgh later in life. The late Prince Philip notably wanted his youngest son, Prince Edward, to inherit it, which he did once King Charles III acceded to the throne. However, a caveat states that it is only for his lifetime and will not be passed to his son but instead will revert back to the crown, with insiders speculating it will likely go to Louis.
Read on to learn more about Prince Louis’ life so far.
Prince Louis is a fan favorite among the royals as the baby of his family. Not only is he a darling little boy, but he is also one of the world’s favorite royal family members, as his cheeky personality has come out in full force in the last couple of years. From his public appearances, it’s clear to see that Prince Louis is the charmer of the iconic family.
Children grow up quickly, but photographs allow everyone to relive bygone moments. The Prince and Princess of Wales have, therefore, taken to capturing their children’s lives in photographs over the years. As a result, many cute and adorable pictures of their children exist that chronicle their growth. For Louis’ 4th birthday in 2022, photos of him playing on the beach were released. Taken by his mother, who photographs all of the Wales children for their birthday portraits, the images depicted Louis as he’d grown into a young boy.
A picture is worth a thousand words, but live-action antics tell a much more detailed story! During 2022’s Trooping the Colour, which took place in June during the late Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee celebration, Louis made an even bigger impression on the public. He momentarily waved at the crowd before pulling funny faces at everyone below.
When the RAF flypast took place, Louis’ mood seemed to have changed quickly as he put his hands over his ears and appeared to let out a yell. Surrounded by his mother and grandmother, Louis wasn’t the only child to cover his ears, as Princess Charlotte did too. Nevertheless, despite crowds being delighted to see the queen during her big celebration, he stole the show that day. The internet made their love for Louis’ antics no secret, but he certainly wasn’t done.
By the time June 6, 2022, came around, it was time for the Platinum Jubilee Pageant. The royal family and many other notable guests, including then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson, were seated in grandstand seating, as they had the best view of everyone. Louis’s relative Mike Tindall — who is married to Prince William’s cousin Zara Tindall née Phillips — may have even predicted that the young royal would be back with more funny faces, as he was photographed light-humoredly showing Louis that he would be keeping an eye on him.
It seems even a well-natured warning from his relative couldn’t stop Louis from putting on another display — this time even bigger than the last! During the pageant, Louis’s face included a range of emotions, from boredom and uninterest to cheeky messing around with his mother.
In fact, Middleton looked to be having a tough time getting her youngest to behave. Seated next to one another, Middleton and Louis even had a little face-off as the youngster grabbed his mother by the chin before he put his hand over her mouth to shush her!
Middleton took it in her stride, as any mother would, and by the end, Louis appeared to have calmed down. He even gave his mom a kiss and cuddle. He also walked over to his grandfather, King Charles, and sat on his lap.
On his grandfather’s coronation day, much like his behavior in previous royal events, the 5-year-old acted like any other kid – behaved for a large part of the time – but still lived up to what the public has hailed him, “Prince of Faces,” as he made some candid faces to the photographers.
Nevertheless, Prince Louis was on his best behavior as he sat beside his mother, Kate, and his sister, Princess Charlotte.
Sadly, in 2024, the British royal family was struck with a tragedy when both King Charles and Kate were diagnosed with unspecified types of cancer. The two have since received the best care from medical professionals and are recovering, while Charles has returned to some of his royal duties.
In March 2024, weeks before Kate revealed her cancer diagnosis, Kensington Palace released a poorly edited photo of Kate and her children that caused an international scandal. Given the fact that Kate and the royals were heavily criticized for the photo, The Independent reported the Waleses may break from their tradition of releasing photos of their children on their birthdays — that are photographed by Kate herself — knowing the large amount of scrutiny the images would be under.
According to a Sunday Times source, after the fallout from the photo-editing blunder, there is no “firm decision” yet whether or not the Prince and Princess of Wales are bringing in a professional photographer to take Louis’ photos. “They (Kate and William) appreciate the public’s love and affection for their children and know there is a public appetite to see them on their birthdays,” the source added.
Aside from the yearly tradition of taking the Wales children’s portraits, it’s been revealed that Kate usually spends a late night making a cake for her kids too, but that could also change this year given she is still in recovery.
“I love making the cake,” Kate shared during an appearance on A Berry Royal Christmas with Mary Berry. “It’s become a bit of a tradition that I stay up ’til midnight with ridiculous amounts of cake mix and icing and I make far too much. But I love it.”
