--- description: The royal family released the Prince Louis birthday photos to mark the occasion and they prove the Instagram vs. reality rule of course. title: Prince Louis Is No Exception to Instagram vs. Reality Rule image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd096fb11c2032261/698a0d3bb21a9c58ca5037a0/Prince-Louis-Birthday-Photos.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Even Prince Louis Is No Exception to the Instagram vs. Reality Rule by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 23, 2020 3:14 PM CUT  Prince Louis ahead of his second birthday. Prince Louis ahead of his second birthday.Kensington Palace/Instagram by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 23, 2020 3:14 PM CUT [Prince Louis of Cambridge](https://time.com/5266913/prince-louis-first-photo/ "undefined") 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](https://time.com/5814554/coronavirus-lgbtq-community-pride/ "undefined") 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. > [](https://twitter.com/KensingtonRoyal/status/1253217186518315008) 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](https://time100talks.splashthat.com/ "undefined") went into effect last month. Before Prince Louis’s big day, the family’s official Twitter account [shared](https://twitter.com/KensingtonRoyal/status/1253073892614320130 "undefined") 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](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-51988671 "undefined"), painted versions have become symbols of hope during the [pandemic](https://time.com/5823382/britain-coronavirus-response/ "undefined"). Twitter users around the world weighed in with their own reactions to the photos: > [](https://twitter.com/emynash/status/1253231010373931009) > [](https://twitter.com/AlyssaJAshton/status/1253300276435587076) > [](https://twitter.com/CambridgeAwe/status/1253218189766463489) > [](https://twitter.com/The%5FCambridgess/status/1253331306529714176) > [](https://twitter.com/Morgan1799/status/1253080931826466816) > [](https://twitter.com/puredakotaa/status/1253061342656954368) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5825697/prince-louis-birthday-photos/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5825697/prince-louis-birthday-photos/"},"headline":"Even Prince Louis Is No Exception to the Instagram vs. Reality Rule","datePublished":"2020-04-23T15:14:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:01:26.658Z","description":"The royal family released new photos of the toddler to mark his birthday","url":"https://time.com/5825697/prince-louis-birthday-photos/","keywords":["Newsfeed","royals","Brief","clickmonsters","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd096fb11c2032261/698a0d3bb21a9c58ca5037a0/Prince-Louis-Birthday-Photos.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd096fb11c2032261/698a0d3bb21a9c58ca5037a0/Prince-Louis-Birthday-Photos.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Prince Louis Birthday photos","caption":"Prince Louis Birthday Photos","creditText":"Kensington Palace/Instagram","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5825697/prince-louis-birthday-photos/","name":"Even Prince Louis Is No Exception to the Instagram vs. Reality Rule"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis Are Clearly the Most Amusing Spectacle at the Trooping the Colour 2019","description":"Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis Are Clearly the Most Amusing Spectacle at the Trooping the Colour 2019","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Q9mZRgLW/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2019-06-08T14:56:27.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Q9mZRgLW.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5825697/prince-louis-birthday-photos/","duration":"PT31S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5825697/prince-louis-birthday-photos/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```