It may look like just an ordinary family photograph, but there is much to read into the first official photograph released of Prince George of Cambridge since his October christening. The eight-month-old George is pictured with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge ahead of their tour of Australia and New Zealand. It is a casual photograph, with George in his mother’s arms while Prince William holds the family dog, Lupo. And instead of looking at the camera, George is staring right at Lupo, a cocker spaniel. “Stare long enough and the casual touches recede and you realize this is a formal portrait for an informal age,” notes USA Today.
It seems everyone in the photograph is working very hard to look casual, quite the contrast from George’s last photograph, when he was wearing the traditional lace gown worn by all royal babies. Now he’s wearing what the Daily Mail describes as “a very cool jumper which could make him a junior style icon.” The picture as a whole exudes “cool modernity with an undertow of nostalgia,” according to the tabloid.