[Source: Reuters]

Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate thanked the public for their messages which had been sent to mark the sixth birthday of their youngest son Louis on Tuesday.

The couple, the Prince and Princess of Wales, also issued a picture of Louis on social media to mark the occasion, showing a close-up image of the beaming young prince.

The picture was taken by Kate in Windsor where the family live. Louis is the youngest of their three children, with George, aged 10, and Charlotte due to celebrate her ninth birthday next month.

Kensington Palace has for some years released photographs taken by Kate, a keen amateur photographer, to mark birthdays and other family occasions.

However, a picture issued this year on Mother’s Day last March was withdrawn by a number of news organisations, including Reuters, because it had been edited, something for which Kate later apologised.

That occurred shortly before the princess revealed she was having preventative chemotherapy after tests carried out in the wake major abdominal surgery she underwent in January revealed that cancer had been present.

Heir to the throne William has only just returned to official duties since that announcement, and Kate herself will only return to the public spotlight when her medical team say she is well enough to do so.