What a difference a month makes—especially when it comes to the British royal family. It feels like May was a whirlwind with King Charles’s historic moment in Canada and Meghan Markle twinning with Princess Lilibet in Montecito.
But perhaps the busiest of them all? The Wales Family, namely Kate Middleton and husband Prince William.
Each month, the Prince and Princess of Wales share a royal rewind on their joint Instagram account—and the May rewind is one for the books. I’m talking birthdays, striking portraits, stunning outfits and surprising videos.
Here, a few highlights from their Instagram Stories featuring the Kensington Palace May Royal Rewind.
Instagram / princeandprincessofwales
The first Story as always was an intro slide announcing Kensington Palace’s May Rewind. This was quickly followed by a slide of May’s first big event…Princess Charlotte’s birthday!
On May 2, Prince William, 42, and Princess Catherine, 43, shared a birthday tribute to Princess Charlotte—along with a tenth birthday photo. The royal family captioned the original post, “Happy 10th Birthday Princess Charlotte!” along with a white heart emoji.
One of the most surprising elements of the post though? How much she looks like her father, Prince William. (They really do have identical smiles.) But even more exciting? The picture was taken by her mother, Catherine, as noted in the caption.
At the time, the new camo image of Charlotte was also shared by her grandfather, King Charles, 76, along with a special message.
Instagram / princeandprincessofwales
Charlotte’s birthday slide was followed in the Rewind by an image from the lead-up to the 80th Anniversary of VE Day, which honors the end of World War II in Europe in 1945. On May 5, Prince William, Kate Middleton and their three children were on hand for a military procession, but also a rare Buckingham Palace balcony appearance to watch a military flypast.
This included a special moment where a laughing Princess Catherine was photographed with her son, Prince George (seen below). Not only was the picture striking, but the event led to another surprising observation: Prince George, 11, at one point was walking next to his mom, and just a few paces ahead of his sister. It might have been the angle, but George appeared to be shoulder height with his mom, who is a whopping 5’9”.
Instagram / princeandprincessofwales
Then in the Rewind, we got a stunning pic of Prince William and his dad standing side-by-side. On Friday, May 16, Buckingham Palace shared a slideshow of King Charles and Prince William taking on an unusual royal tradition dating back hundreds of years. The pair were attending the Service for the Order of the Bath, a ceremony that takes place every four years. “The order was established by George I in 1725, though its origins go back to medieval times when part of the ceremony of knighthood included a ritual bath symbolic of spiritual purification,” Buckingham Palace wrote.
The pair wore bold red cloaks over their traditional military garb and adornments at Westminster Abbey.
Instagram / princeandprincessofwales
Next up was a surprising video of Prince William kicking a soccer ball (seen in the upper left below).
In late May, Prince William made a surprise visit to Scotland and stopped by the Leith Community Centre to mark the launch of Leith United, a new social enterprise that unites Street Soccer Scotland, YMCA Edinburgh and Leith Community Centre to “deliver health, wellbeing and social connection for thousands of residents,” per his official Instagram account.
On Instagram, Kensington Palace posted footage of a match involving the prince and detailed how the center can help build stronger communities.
The caption read at the time, “At Leith Community Centre, the beautiful game is being used to tackle some of society’s toughest challenges. Street Soccer Scotland is joining forces with local partners through Leith United, a new social enterprise launched with support from The Royal Foundation’s Community Impact Programme.”
Instagram / princeandprincessofwales
Another notable callout? When Kate Middleton joined her husband in Scotland to help christen the HMS Glasgow at the ship’s official naming ceremony. (Kate is sponsor of the Royal Navy ship.)
During the event, Catherine wore Princess Diana’s earrings (it was hard to miss them). Also, her facial expressions were Prince Louis-level (royal fans will know what that means). And Prince William was caught on camera making a cheeky comment after a royal fan called his wife “beautiful.” Quite the eventful outing.
Things wrapped up, as per usual, with a “thank you” slide.
Instagram / princeandprincessofwales
I can’t wait to see what the Wales Fam gets up to in June!
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