Princess Kate Middleton kicked off Halloween 2026 with a never-before-seen photo of her 7-year-old son, Prince Louis.
“Happy Halloween! 🎃,” the Princess of Wales wrote in a Saturday, October 31, celebratory post shared via her official Instagram account.
In the snap, Louis, then 12 months, wore a pint-size rain jacket and boots as he played with a round, orange pumpkin. Kate, 44, is credited with snapping the image.
Kate, who shares Louis with husband Prince William, famously considers herself to be an amateur photographer.
“I sort of learn on the way, but actually during this time [in lockdown], I spent lots of time picking up my camera and taking photos of the children because they’re always around us when we’re doing stuff together,” Kate explained of her passion on the U.K.’s This Morning in 2020. “One of the fantastic things about photography is really capturing that moment so it’s not staged.”
She continued at the time, “It’s not setting it up perfectly; it’s not clearing your house away so you got a perfect studio setup but it’s really capturing those moments that feel real to you.”
In addition to taking photos of her daily life, Kate has also photographed her children’s various birthday portraits over the years. (Kate and the Prince of Wales, 44, are also parents of son Prince George, 13, and daughter Princess Charlotte, 11.)
“The Duchess of Cambridge is a very good photographer,” Kensington Palace curator Claudia Acott Williams exclusively told Us in 2022. “She has started releasing her own photographs of her children as a way of sharing their progress with the public. … By releasing her own photographs, she’s kind of maintaining an element of control and privacy for them.”
Per Williams, Kate’s portraits offer a unique “mother’s view” to typically formal snapshots.
“That’s an intimacy that we don’t often get,” Williams noted. “It creates a unique perspective. It is very clever. It really allows the public in a very intimate way, while still allowing them to maintain the privacy of family life.”
Kate and William have tried to allow their children to have a sense of normalcy growing up. George recently matriculated at Eton College, a prestigious British boarding school that his father and uncle Prince Harry each attended.
“She said she’s looking forward to George coming home [and that] she’s missed him,” local patron Denise Ashton told Hello! after meeting Kate during her October 22 appearance at East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices in Ipswich, England. “They may be going somewhere [during the break].”
While speaking with another attendee, Kate noted that her children were anticipating their school break. She added, “I can’t wait to have them all home.”
