Kate Middleton and Prince William Switch Their Profile Pictures
Kate Middleton and Prince William have switched up their social media after commemorating Remembrance.
As of Nov. 12, the Prince and Princess of Wales, both 42, updated their profile pictures on the official royal X and Instagram accounts that they share, swapping out the Remembrance tribute to the same combination in place previously.
Last week, Prince William and Princess Kate refreshed their X and Instagram profile photos from scenes from the September video Kate issued to announce that she completed chemotherapy treatment to different images in tribute to Remembrance. The profile icon was a shot of the royal couple at the Festival of Remembrance at Royal Albert Hall in 2023, backed by a cover image of ceramic red poppies, seemingly snapped at the Tower of London’s 2014 tribute representing the British military fatalities in World War I.
As the British sovereign is the head of the Armed Forces, it is one of the most solemn and steadfast traditions for the royal family, led by King Charles, to remember those who died in war each year on the second Sunday of November, known as Remembrance Sunday. Though the royals attend other events in the run-up to Remembrance Sunday, their appearance that day at the service at The Cenotaph in London is considered “the focal point of the nation’s homage,” their website says.
The royals are known to set a somber tone by changing out pictures to Remembrance-related images before Remembrance Sunday and typically switch the images back after a few days. A zoom shows that Prince William and Princess Kate’s team has returned their profile pictures on X and Instagram to a shot of them laughing and holding hands as they sat together on a blanket in the grass. It is a scene from the video message, unprecedented for its intimacy of their private life and filmed by Will Warr in Norfolk in August, in which Princess Kate opened up about the “relief” of completing chemotherapy.
On X, their cover picture has also been changed back to a picture of their couple with their kids, Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6. George, Charlotte and Louis were featured in much of the Sept. 9 video, and Princess Kate’s parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, also made a surprise cameo.
Carole and Michael are known to be a constant presence in their grandchildren’s lives, with a palace insider previously telling PEOPLE, “Her parents are an enduring factor in the upbringing of their grandchildren.”
Over the weekend, Princess Kate appeared at her first official royal events after announcing that she completed chemotherapy, attending the Festival of Remembrance on Nov. 9 and Cenotaph Service at the war memorial on Nov. 10, Remembrance Sunday. She appeared alongside Prince William, King Charles, Princess Anne and other working royals, though Queen Camilla stayed home amid her recovery from a chest infection. PEOPLE understood that there was no cause for concern for the Queen, who returned to royal duty on Nov. 12.
Like Prince William and Princess Kate, the King and Queen’s team also refreshed their social media presence as of Nov. 12 following the Remembrance events.
Ahead of Remembrance, King Charles and Queen Camilla’s profile picture on X, Instagram and Facebook was changed to a throwback of them at a Remembrance Day Service at the National War Memorial in Ottawa, Canada in 2009, with an X cover picture of a field of wild poppies and the sobering message, “Lest we forget.”
The King and Queen’s current profile photo looks like it was taken during the same portrait session where photographer Millie Pilkington captured the royals to mark a year since their coronation in May 2023. The coronation anniversary portrait taken by Pilkington was snapped in the Buckingham Palace garden on April 10, the day after the King and Queen’s 19th wedding anniversary, and the current profile picture seems to show them in the same outfits and setting.
Can’t get enough of PEOPLE’s Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!
Meanwhile, their cover photo on X and Facebook is now a regal shot of Buckingham Palace surrounded by green trees, with Union Jack flags lining The Mall as soldiers processed — perhaps an outtake from Trooping the Colour in June.