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Kate Middleton and Prince William shared a calm, nature-filled video this week in support of the UK’s Big Butterfly Count, but for longtime royal followers, the clip felt familiar-eerily familiar.
Posted to the couple’s official Instagram and X accounts on July 18, the short video showed butterflies flitting through sunny gardens and green spaces. The caption encouraged followers to spend 15 minutes spotting butterflies to help track their populations across the UK.
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It was a simple, feel-good post-until royal watchers noticed the subtle significance behind it. The butterfly imagery, posted just days before Prince George’s 12th birthday on July 22, mirrors the setting of a memorable family moment from 2014.
A Gentle Callback to a First Birthday Moment
Back then, the Cambridges took baby George-then nearly one-to the Sensational Butterflies exhibition at London’s Natural History Museum. The outing became the backdrop for a now-iconic birthday portrait, where the young prince, dressed in blue and white overalls, was seen observing butterflies with his parents.
Photographer John Stillwell told PEOPLE that George was “fascinated” by the butterflies, though a bit nervous when they flew too close. Kate and William, he noted, were clearly “proud and relaxed parents.”
While the new post doesn’t show George at all, its timing and theme strongly suggest a quiet tribute to that joyful family memory-perhaps even a prelude to this year’s birthday portrait, expected in the coming days.
Turning 12 could also mean changes for the future king-in-waiting. Traditionally, royal heirs stop flying with their parents after this age to protect the line of succession. Prince William, for example, began flying separately from King Charles after his 12th birthday, according to A Right Royal Podcast.
It’s unclear if William and Kate will follow suit. They’ve modernized many royal parenting norms-Queen Elizabeth reportedly worried about the couple flying together with their children, as The Sun reported in 2021-but they’ve always walked a careful line between duty and family life.
Prince George is also finishing his last year at Lambrook School and is widely expected to attend Eton College in 2026, just like his dad. A source told the Mail on Sunday that “all roads lead to Eton”-another milestone in a year full of quiet transitions.
Whether or not the butterfly post was intentional, it’s clear the moment struck a chord with fans-who are eagerly waiting for the next glimpse of the future king.
