Prince Louis Celebrates Sixth Birthday with New Unedited Photo by Princess of Wales

Britain’s Prince and Princess of Wales have released a new photo of Prince Louis to mark his sixth birthday on Tuesday, the first image to be released by the family since a photo-editing scandal erupted last month.

In the photo, Louis – who is fourth in line to the British throne – can be seen grinning at the camera lying on a blanket.

The image posted to the couple’s official social media accounts on Tuesday was credited to Catherine, Princess of Wales.

A royal source said the Waleses were grateful for the birthday messages they have received for Louis and the photo was taken by Kate, 42, in the last few days in Windsor.

“This is in an unprecedented time for the Wales family as the princess continues her recovery,” the source said.

It has been a challenging period for the family as Kate announced she was in the early stages of chemotherapy for cancer last month.

“The family were cognisant of the fact that they have asked for privacy during the princess’ recovery, however, on balance, they wanted to share the image on their social media channels as a way to thank those who have sent birthday wishes,” the source continued.

The source said the photo is unedited. CNN Photo Desk has analysed the image, confirmed it is unedited and that it has not found any discrepancies or signs that the photo has been edited.

It has become something of a tradition for William and Catherine to mark their children’s birthdays by sharing new images each year. Many of the past portraits have been taken by Kate, who is a keen photographer herself.

However, a handful of instances have also seen renowned professional photographers, including Mario Testino, Chris Jackson and Millie Pilkington, capture some of the contemporaneous portraits.

The Waleses have released a celebratory photo of Louis each year to mark his birthday. He was last seen in public during the family’s traditional Christmas Day walk to church alongside his mum on the Sandringham estate.

The latest official photograph of the youngest member of the Wales family is likely to be heavily scrutinised as it is the first since a Mother’s Day photo triggered a scandal last month.

Kensington Palace had released an official family photo, said to have been taken by Prince William, which was later found to have been tampered with. The image should have put a stop to the rabid speculation over the princess’s whereabouts having retreated from the public eye after a January abdominal surgery.