Prince Charles Rings In William's 40th Birthday With Series Of Heartwarming Photographs

Jun 22, 2022 by apost team

This month has been quite the celebration for Prince William. At the start of the month, he and other members of the royal family honored Queen Elizabeth II during her four-day Platinum Jubilee celebration. From the annual Trooping the Colour parade to various other events, including the Platinum Party at the Park, William was in attendance at many of the festivities that took place.

Then, Father's Day was last weekend, and William no doubt celebrated with his three adorable children: Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. For the occasion, the Cambridges released a gorgeous photo of William and the Cambridge children laughing during a family trip to Jordan in autumn 2021.

Now, just a few days after Father's Day, William is celebrating his birthday — and not just any birthday, but his 40th! The occasion is a big one, so much so that the Royal Mint has released a commemorative coin to honor the future monarch. It's the first time the prince has been featured on a coin by himself. Previously, he had coins made in his honor for his and Kate Middleton's engagement and wedding. 

It's uncertain exactly how William planned to celebrate his milestone birthday, but he likely spent the day with his beloved family. As is tradition, other members of the royal family have also sent well wishes to him on their social media channels, including his father, Prince Charles. The Prince of Wales rang in his son's 40th birthday with a series of heartwarming throwback photographs that featured William's growth over the years.

Born on June 21, 1982, Prince William is the firstborn son of Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales and his then-wife, Diana, Princess of Wales. Even his birth was an iconic moment. The following morning, his parents debuted the newborn prince to the world on the steps of St Mary's Hospital, London, for his very first photo op.

In September 1984, William became an older brother and Charles and Diana welcomed their second son, Prince Harry. However, tragedy struck in 1997 when Diana died suddenly due to injuries sustained in a car accident in Paris. William was just 15 when his mother passed away.

William graduated from St. Andrews in 2005 with a Scottish Master of Arts degree, majoring in Geography. It was there that he famously met Kate Middleton, who was also a student. The relationship had moved fairly quickly after they began dating, and the two moved in together in a shared apartment while at university.

Their union first became public knowledge in 2004, when someone from the press snapped a photo of them together while they were on a ski trip, which led to widespread knowledge of their once private relationship. Then, in a bittersweet moment, the pair announced their engagement in November 2010, and the engagement ring that William proposed to Kate with once belonged to his late mother.

The couple got married in a show-stopping wedding on Apr. 29, 2011. Since then, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have established themselves as two of the most prominent working royals. In the years since their wedding, they've also grown their family to include their three children — Prince George, 8, Princess Charlotte, 7, and Prince Louis, 4. 

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It's been a wonder to see William grow up over the years, and it's especially meaningful to see him honored in such a way for his 40th birthday. Meanwhile, the royal family also honored William with messages of their own. Of course, William's father pulled out all the stops when it came time to ring in such a milestone birthday for his firstborn.

Charles shared a touching birthday tribute to William via the official Clarence House social media channels. Alongside a slideshow of photos of the two of them over the decades, the post was captioned:

"​​Wishing The Duke of Cambridge a very happy 40th birthday! 🎂🎈"

The Prince of Wales celebrated William's birthday with a series of heartfelt photographs depicting their time together over the years. The first photograph showcased Charles holding William when he was just a baby. The next showed the father-son duo on one of their memorable ski trips together. In the third photo, both Charles and William had huge smiles on their faces as they enjoyed some quality time together. 

The fourth photo is one of the more iconic photos that most royal fans have seen, as it was during the Trooping the Colour event in 2015, with William holding his firstborn, George, and Charles and Camila standing beside him. Finally, to bring the series of photographs to an end, Charles concluded the Instagram post with yet another beautiful photo of him and William smiling happily together – this time embracing one another in a sweet side hug.

William has had several meaningful moments over the years, and we're happy to see how Charles was able to take us all down memory lane!

What was your favorite photograph from Prince Charles' birthday post to Prince William? Let us know, and be sure to pass this along to any royal fan you know!