First Family Photos Released – Kate in Seraphine & George in GH Hurt

Today new photos of Kate, William and George were released.

In a break with tradition, the pictures were not taken by a professional photographer, but by Kate’s father, Michael Middleton.  They are a delight to see, showing a sleepy Prince George in his mother’s arms, while William has his arm around Kate. Lupo looks happy, he is joined by another canine companion, Tilly, the Middleton’s golden retriever.

The photos were shot in the gardens at Carole and Michael Middleton’s Bucklebury estate, where Kate, William and Lupo stayed after George’s birth.

Two photos were released, here is the second picture with the couple standing.  Little George appears to happily be snoozing away, unperturbed by any activity surrounding the family photo shoot.

Also today, a portion of the first interview Prince William has given since George’s birth was released.

The interview was conducted by CNN’s Max Foster, more from CNN’s story about the piece:

“He’s a little bit of a rascal, I’ll put it that way,” William told CNN’s Max Foster. “He either reminds me of my brother or me when I was younger, I’m not sure, but he’s doing very well at the moment.”

“He’s growing quite quickly actually. But he’s a little fighter — he wriggles around quite a lot and he doesn’t want to go to sleep that much.”

The new father also revealed that he is somewhat eager to return to work so he might get a full night’s rest and alos explained about that first diaper (nappy) change:

“I did the first nappy, it’s a badge of honor,” he joked. “I wasn’t allowed to get away with that. I had every midwife staring at me, saying: ‘You do it, you do it.'”

He also spoke about his passion for African conservation.

He told CNN he wants George to experience the same Africa he saw as a young man and spark a passion for preserving the unique wildlife there, much as his father, Prince Charles, did with him.

“I’ll have toy elephants and rhinos around the room,” William joked. “We’ll cover it in lots of bushes and things like that, make him grow up as if he’s in the bush.”

William shared that Kate has been handling more of the night duties with George, and said she is doing “a fantastic job” with the infant Prince. Below you see Prince William with Max Foster.

The interview that aired today is just a portion of an hour-long documentary Max has done, that program airs on CNN September 15th.

How do today’s images compare to some of the first photos of William? Here you see Prince William with his parents in December of 1982, when he was about six months old.

Below you the family in May of 1983, Prince Charles and Princess Diana are playing with a very young Prince William atop a blanket on the grounds of Government House in Auckland, New Zealand.

Kate is said to be wearing another dress by Séraphine Maternity, the brand’s Knot Front Dress.

It’s the identical style of the Lavender Print dress the Duchess has worn previously.

Séraphine says Kate is wearing their frock.

Kate’s frock shows up darker because of the bright sunshine, the dress is a signature style for the company, and very flattering. It has an empire waist, a deep v-neck, and cap sleeves. More on the piece from Seraphine:

Séraphine’s signature knot front dress is designed to flatter the silhouette before, during and after pregnancy. Silky soft and flowing, the Jolene dress features an intricate knot detail that creates gentle gathers to drape effortlessly over a bump or after-baby curves…

It is priced at £46, $79.  Both the US and UK websites say the dress is back-ordered until September 16th.  (For the US site, click here.)

Kate also had on her Annoushka earrings.

And Prince George was in the superfine wool christening shawl by H.H. Hurt and Sons, first seen at St. Mary’s Hospital.

As one might expect, the new pictures were on the front page of most papers. Below we see The Express.

And the Daily Mail.

The Telegraph.

The photographs are lovely. Kate still seems to be glowing and both look relaxed and happy, albeit tired. Clearly, Mr. Middleton is not a professional photographer; for reasons unbeknownst to us the young parents preferred using his pictures as opposed to engaging the services of a professional photographer and doing formal shots at a venue like Kensington Palace. It’s said that Kate really didn’t the baby’s schedule upended with a formal portrait setting, an understandable sentiment.

I expect we’ll see formal shots soon enough. More on the likelihood of formal images from Richard Palmer’s story in tomorrow’s Express story, quoting an unknown senior aide”

“As far as we’re concerned, they’re a couple of gentle, informal family photographs. The time will come for more formal photographs around the christening later in the year.”

The publication of the photographs will inevitably be aimed at puncturing a market in paparazzi pictures of the royal baby but the palace was keen to stress that, although the choice of Mr Middleton to take the photographs broke with tradition, the couple and their infant will also be posing for press photographers in the near future.

It’s lovely to see William and Kate enjoying these very special first months with George.

LINKAGE:

• Click here to see the portion of William’s interview that aired today on CNN
• To read a transcript of the interview, click here

 

EDITOR’S NOTE: Many thanks to those emailing and messaging to let me know about the early leak of these pictures, I very much appreciate it.  I have had them since mid-afternoon but wanted to abide by the embargo on the photos that ended at 7pm EDT.