Even Prince Louis Is No Exception to the Instagram vs. Reality Rule

Prince Louis of Cambridge is here to remind people around the world that Instagram and reality are not the same thing, even if you’re a member of Britain’s royal family.

In new photographs shared to help mark the prince’s second birthday, the toddler can be seen turning fingerpaints into facepaints, something with which every toddler parent can undoubtedly commiserate. In the first photo, Prince Louis can be seen posing with rainbow painted hands. In the next photo, he has smeared the paint on his face, wearing the colors with a grin. The photos are a great reminder to the world that most things can’t stop a kid from acting very much like a kid.

The photos were taken by his mother Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge earlier this month and shared by Kensington Palace on Instagram and Twitter on Thursday. The tiny prince is celebrating the special occasion at home with his parents and older siblings at the family’s home on the grounds of Sandringham House, the royal residence in Norfolk, England. The family have been staying there since the U.K.’s coronavirus lockdown went into effect last month.

Before Prince Louis’s big day, the family’s official Twitter account shared a painting of a rainbow with the caption reading: “Sharing a sneak peek of Prince Louis’s handiwork ahead of his second birthday.” Rainbows have become a common sight in the U.K., where according to the BBC, painted versions have become symbols of hope during the pandemic.

Twitter users around the world weighed in with their own reactions to the photos: