When I posted the new birthday portrait of Prince George yesterday, I grabbed what turned out to be the cropped image on Prince William and Kate’s Instagram account. The image on the Kensington Palace Twitter account wasn’t cropped as tightly, and you can see both of George’s hands and wrists. Look there, the eleven-year-old kid is wearing what appears to be a friendship bracelet or some kind of woven bracelet of some variety.
People Magazine suggests that George has possibly gotten into friendship bracelets via Princess Charlotte, because Charlotte is a major Swiftie. Notably, Prince William took George and Charlotte to one of Taylor Swift’s London concerts, and while they were ensconced in a VIP balcony area, I bet somewhere along the line, there were some friendship bracelets swapped with some of the other youths. So, maybe. Or maybe Charlotte just gave her brother one of her bracelets, or maybe one of George’s school friends made it for him. Who knows? One thing I will say is that the bracelet reminded me of Prince Harry, who wore bracelets and necklaces from his teenage years through adulthood. Harry loves some casual, cool accessories. So of course the Daily Beast’s Royalist column invoked Harry… but in the weirdest way possible: “Prince George’s Elegant Rebuke to Critics (Harry) of a Royal Childhood.”
Gone are the scalloped collars, short trousers, and knee-length socks that characterized so many of his childhood photographs. Instead, George, his hair neatly pushed to one side, wears a chic dark suit and a white shirt open at the neck.
However, in an unprecedentedly casual touch for a formal portrait, George is also seen wearing that perennial adolescent and pre-adolescent favorite, a handwoven bracelet on his left arm.
The telling personal detail shows photographer Princess Kate’s effortless mastery of the casual, common touch, the simple beach-side favorite of so many children eloquently pushing back against narratives arguing that the Windsor children are being brought up under unacceptable pressure.
Chief among those who have made the case that growing up in the royal bubble is harmful to children is Prince William’s estranged brother, Prince Harry. In his memoir, Spare, Harry said: “William and I have talked about it once or twice, and he has made it very clear to me that his kids are not my responsibility.”
Yeah, as I said, the visual of George embracing the same kind of accessory his Uncle Harry wears is not giving “take that, Harry!” It actually looks like someone wanted to draw a visual comparison TO Harry. That’s all I’ll say.
Photos courtesy of the Princess of Wales/Kensington Palace, KP’s social media and Taylor Swift’s social media.