A day after Kate Middleton's triumphant return to the public eye, the princess indirectly sent another message about her family. On Sunday, the Prince and Princess of Wales's Instagram account posted a photo taken by Princess Kate of her husband Prince William and children Prince George (10), Princess Charlotte (9), and Prince Louis (6).

The post is notable not just because of its much-watched photographer, but because of who apparently wrote the caption. As opposed to an unsigned sentence or a message from William or Kate, this one came from the kids, themselves—the first time the younger generation has made a statement in the public forum.

It's been a busy couple of days for the Waleses, beginning with Friday's announcement that Princess Kate would make her long-awaited return to public life at Saturday's Trooping the Colour. It was her first official appearance in a year marked by a January surgery and the announcement of a cancer diagnosis after months of speculation about her whereabouts and well-being.

Highlights From Trooping the Colour

Part of that speculation was fueled by a photo the couple shared on British Mother's Day, which falls three Sundays before Easter. After the image of Kate with the three kids was removed from distribution by major media wires over concerns that it had been altered, Middleton stepped forward to take the blame.

“Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing," the Princess wrote at the time. “I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused.”

Kate Middleton was perhaps selling herself short with the casual use of “amateur,” as she's so invested in the art that since 2019, she's been the official patron of the Royal Photographic Society, and her family photos have likely garnered more global attention than those by most professionals.

Her latest work, which was posted Sunday morning, depicted a far more casual scene than many of the images she's shared in the past. William and the children, all clad in shorts and casual tops, stand on a beach. Their backs to the camera, they face the water, arms around each other's backs. Kate, the photographer, appears to have been a few steps behind.

It's an informal, relatable image quite far from the regimented photos we saw of the family at Saturday's Trooping the Colour or at Middleton's last public appearance at Christmas Day church services in 2023. According to Kensington Palace, Middleton took the photo last month during a trip to the Norfolk coast.

“We love you, Papa. Happy Father’s Day,” the photo's caption reads. It's signed “G, C & L,” the first initials of William and Kate's three kids. (While Mother's Day has different dates in Britain and the U.S., the nations share the same Father's Day.)

George, Charlotte, and Louis aren't the only royal kids who took to social media today to honor their dad. William also penned a quick tribute, a throwback photo of himself as a toddler playing ball with a young King Charles III. “Happy Father’s Day, Pa.,” that post read, and like his kids, he signed with a single initial, a “W.”