Prince William and Kate Middleton usually maintain an air of formality during royal engagements, though that isn’t always the case when their kids are around.
Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis are increasingly accompanying their parents to events as they age, including royal engagements such as Trooping the Colour and less formal events like soccer and tennis matches.
From waving to crowds from Buckingham Palace to giggling at royal engagements together, check out some of the best candid photos of William and Kate with their kids.
A tiny Prince George showed no signs of fear while staring down an Australian bilby with his parents in 2014.
George was less than a year old when he embarked on his first royal tour to New Zealand and Australia alongside his parents.
Despite being so tiny, photos of him pulling funny faces at a bilby — a desert-dwelling marsupial — while visiting Sydney Zoo show he was anything but shy. George looked to be growling at the bilby while Kate and William smiled on.
Vanity Fair reported that the bilby was actually named George after the young prince.
George and Kate were caught sharing a sweet moment elsewhere on the royal tour.
Clutching onto Kate’s shoulders, with rosy cheeks and a glint of a smile in his eyes, was 9-month-old George in photos from later in the tour.
The little prince was dressed in an adorable sailor outfit, with a white collared shirt and dungarees.
The prince appeared to be in tears as the family made their way to Princess Charlotte’s christening in 2015.
Not every candid photograph taken of William and Kate captures a lighthearted moment. In 2015, while the family was en route to the church in Sandringham where Princess Charlotte would be christened, it looked like George had burst into tears.
While Kate, dressed in Alexander McQueen, walked ahead with Charlotte in a stroller, William took up the task of holding a tearful George’s hand as they walked on.
William and Charlotte shared a cute father-daughter moment during a visit to Canada in 2016.
An overseas trip to Canada in 2016 marked the first time that William, Kate, and their kids went on a royal tour as a family of four.
During an appearance at a children’s party honoring the military, Charlotte, 1, clutched a balloon flower as her father, William, held her. A sweet moment was captured as he looked down at her, smiling.
Charlotte appeared to be trying her best to keep up with Kate during the same trip.
After the family arrived at Victoria Harbour Airport, photographs show Kate leaning down to hold Charlotte’s hand as they made their way to a seaplane.
According to The Mirror, this was one of a handful of moments the children were seen throughout the royal tour of Canada. In other photographs of the day, Charlotte and George were also shown waving at onlookers.
By 2017, Charlotte and George were quite the twosome as they were caught peering out their plane window during a trip to Poland.
Upon arrival at Warsaw airport for a five-day tour of Poland and Germany, photographers snapped pictures of George and Charlotte staring down at the welcome wagon as the family arrived.
While George, who was then just shy of 4 years old, seemed to smile, Charlotte looked rather more serious.
Charlotte looked less than happy as the family prepared for their flight home.
Charlotte cried as the family prepared to take a helicopter at Hamburg airport during the last leg of their tour.
The princess, who was only 2 at the time, was pictured in tears as her mother and father tried to calm her before the flight. Older brother George was all smiles as the family made their way on board the aircraft.
Two years later, the older siblings had a young Prince Louis to keep them company while they pulled funny faces from the windows of Buckingham Palace.
Prince Louis, the youngest child who was born in 2018, made his Trooping the Colour debut alongside older siblings George and Charlotte in 2019.
The three kids were seen peeking out of the windows at Buckingham Palace as the crowds gathered below to see the whole family walk out onto the balcony. Charlotte and Louis were seen pressing their faces against the window in a few hilarious moments captured on camera.
William and Kate couldn’t help but laugh as the family of five stood on the balcony at Buckingham Palace.
After the children were done peering out of the windows at Buckingham Palace, they joined Kate and William on the balcony to wave at the onlookers of the Trooping the Colour ceremony.
In a turn of events captured in this image, Charlotte, Louis, and George appeared to be carrying out their duties of waving to the crowd, while their parents couldn’t quite keep a straight face.
Louis made a silly face while wearing a pair of adult glasses on a day out with his mother, Meghan Markle, and Prince Archie.
Louis joined his mother, aunt, and baby cousin to spectate at the King Power Royal Charity Polo Day in 2019.
The prince appeared to borrow Kate’s sunglasses and, in a cheeky moment, stuck his tongue out at Meghan and Archie.
All three children made synchronized funny faces while on the balcony for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022.
George, Charlotte, and Louis not only wore coordinating blue outfits but also appeared to be in sync with their expressions on the balcony at Trooping the Color in honor of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
It was Louis, however, whose reactions to the parade especially entertained his family and royal fans watching the action from Buckingham Palace. At first, Louis enthusiastically waved to the aircraft, but as the jets became louder, he covered his ears.
Kate, Charlotte, George, and William were all smiles at the Platinum Jubilee party at the palace.
The entire family, aside from Louis, attended the Platinum Jubilee celebrations at Buckingham Palace.
George and Charlotte were seated between their parents as they watched live musical performances. All four were pictured laughing and clapping as they enjoyed music from the likes of Adam Lambert and Queen, Diana Ross, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and the London cast of “Hamilton.”
At the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Charlotte gave her parents a thumbs-up at her first solo royal engagement.
Shutterstock royal photographer Tim Rooke previously told Business Insider that Charlotte “gets her passion for sport from her parents.”
George made a funny face at the Coronation Concert in 2023 following King Charles III’s ascent to the throne.
The day after Charles’ coronation, William and George waved flags and enjoyed the musical stylings of Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, and Andrea Bocelli at a celebratory concert.
At Trooping the Colour in 2023, Louis expressed his enthusiasm with amusing faces and gestures.
Louis has been known to steal the show at royal events. At Trooping the Colour, he was spotted shushing the crowd and saluting the assembled soldiers.
Charlotte grinned up at her mother as the Princess of Wales attended one of her first royal engagements in July 2024.
Charlotte accompanied her mother to Wimbledon in July 2024, which was only the Princess of Wales’ second royal engagement of the year following her cancer diagnosis.
As Kate greeted the crowd with a wave, Charlotte grinned up at her mother.
The same month, William and George celebrated at a soccer game with a hug.
Matching Charlotte and Kate’s sporty vibe for the summer, William and George attended the final match between Spain and England at the UEFA European Championships in July 2024.
They hugged each other enthusiastically when England scored while wearing matching suits and ties.
All five members of the Wales family were locked into a flypast at Buckingham Palace in May 2025.
The Prince and Princess of Wales brought their children to the balcony of Buckingham Palace to watch a flypast that honored the 80th anniversary of VE Day in May 2025.
At one point during the flypast, William, Kate, George, and Louis all leaned over to get a good glimpse of the planes for a fun candid moment.
William and George looked like twins when they met with veterans the same day.
George joined his parents at a tea party attended by World War II veterans as part of the VE Day celebrations.
He chatted with veterans during the event, and photographers snapped a shot of the prince and his father leaning toward a veteran as they spoke. The pair wore similar expressions as they listened, highlighting how much they look alike.
Louis shared a secret smile with his mom at the Together at Christmas carol service in December 2025.
The Wales kids attended the Together at Christmas carol service in December 2025, an event Kate organizes annually.
During the service, Louis and his mother leaned their heads together and smiled at each other.
By Trooping the Colour 2026, Louis seemed more enthusiastic about the planes flying by.
Although he seemed overwhelmed by Trooping the Colour in years past, Louis appeared enthusiastic about the planes flying overhead at the June 2026 event.
He opened his mouth in an expression of awe during the event. Charlotte looked up at the planes in glee, while Kate and William grinned at their youngest child.
George, Charlotte, and Kate giggled together at Wimbledon in July 2026.
Charlotte and George attended the men’s singles finals of Wimbledon in July 2026 with their parents.
In a moment of levity between the intensity of the final match, George made his mother and sister laugh by pulling his Wimbledon hat low on his head.
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