The photograph, taken within the last few days by the Princess of Wales, shows the couple’s second child smiling in the garden of their home in Windsor, west of London. “Happy 9th Birthday, Princess Charlotte!” read the message accompanying the photo on the royal couple‘s official X account.
“Thank you for all of the kind messages today.”Kensington Palace, the official residence of William and Kate, the Prince and Princess of Wales, regularly releases photos — often taken by Kate, who’s said she enjoys photography as a hobby — to mark birthdays and other notable dates.
About a week ago, the Prince and Princess of Wales posted a photo of their youngest child, Prince Louis, to mark his 6th birthday. That tradition came under intense scrutiny in March, however, after a picture issued by the palace to mark the Mother’s Day in the U.K. was removed from the servers of a number of major news agencies because it had been altered.
Other photos attributed to Kate were later found to have been manipulated. Kate later admitted editing the photo and apologized for causing any confusion, but by that stage the altered image had already sent rumors about her health spiraling out of control. It was released just days before Kate revealed she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy following the discovery that cancer had been present in her body.
