Who is Josh Shinner, the photographer behind Prince Louis’ new birthday portrait?

The snapper, who has documented several key royal moments, is fast becoming one of the Wales family's most trusted allies

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A portrait by Josh Shinner of Prince Louis, on the occasion of his seventh birthday

Flashing a gap-toothed grin to the camera, Prince Louis's charming, cheeky personality is perfectly captured in a new photograph taken to celebrate his seventh birthday. Wearing jeans, a checked shirt and a jumper, the young royal is pictured sitting on a log on the Sandringham estate last month, with a bluebell forest in the background. Beaming widely, his familiar smile is somewhat changed – as the royal has, like many children his age, lost his two front teeth.

‘Wishing Prince Louis a very Happy 7th Birthday!’ reads the caption to the photograph, posted to the Prince and Princess of Wales' official Instagram account. And while the Princess of Wales – a dab hand with a camera – has often documented her family's most important milestones, this particular snap was taken by a different photographer: Josh Shinner, who is fast becoming one of the royal family's most trusted snappers.

The Yorkshire-born photographer first worked with the Wales family in 2023, when he shot William, Kate and their three children for their annual Christmas card. The black-and-white picture, which saw the whole family dressed down in jeans and white shirts, marked a change of gear for the family, signifying a more relaxed, contemporary approach to royal life. Many royal fans remarked that it bore a significant resemblance to the 1992 Christmas card issued by then-Prince Charles and Princess Diana, featuring a young William and Harry dressed in matching white shirts, taken in black-and-white.

As Shinner's first foray into photographing the royal family, it couldn't have made more of a splash. But then, Shinner is a well-versed A-list professional, who has conducted shoots for The FT, Vogue and Esquire, among others. He discovered his talents at an early age through his mother, who also had a passion for cameras, and worked for a local paper as a teenager, where he cut his teeth photographing a garden party at a nursing home. Since then, he's evolved to shooting rather more glamorous scenes: think Laura Mvula's first album cover, Emerald Fennell for the pages of Harper's Bazaar and campaigns for Paul Smith.

Josh Shinner has worked with the Wales family before, and shot their 2023 Christmas card

Josh Shinner/Kensington Palace/PA Media

‘I’ve always loved portraiture and the people I most enjoy photographing are those that take some warming up,’ Shinner told Harper's Bazaar. ‘Maybe they’re nervous or they don’t want to be there, or perhaps they find having their picture taken as pleasant as going to the dentist, but I love trying to make those people feel at ease and chatting to them – normally about anything other than the shot we’re about to take – then making them comfortable enough to take a good picture. The feeling when it all comes together and you make something you’re both happy with is hard to beat.’ Indeed, this latest photograph of Prince Louis shows the young royal looking remarkably happy and relaxed, perhaps thanks to Shinner's talent for forming ‘a fleeting moment of connection between the sitter and the lens in that small second’.

Josh Shinner isn't the only photographer to have been entrusted with capturing big moments for the Wales family. The long-haired, rugged wildlife snapper Matt Porteous, who hails from Jersey and specialises in capturing ocean scenes, has developed a new ‘side hustle’ in photographing the Waleses over the last seven years. He's captured the royals everywhere from underwater in Belize (Prince William and Kate swimming with sharks in full scuba gear) to the gardens of Anmer Hall (Prince George offering a lick of ice cream to the family dog, Lupo, on his third birthday).

His two most significant recent shots, however, have been of the Princess of Wales. On Kate's 43rd birthday, a new portrait was released which showed her in relaxed mode: posing against a white backdrop in a simple pair of jeans and a white t-shirt, her hands in her pockets and smiling confidently. Prince William wrote a moving caption to the photograph, posted on Instagram, which described her as ‘the most incredible wife and mother’ and praised the ‘remarkable’ strength she had shown throughout her gruelling cancer treatment.

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This photograph followed a particularly significant snap, taken by Porteous, that marked the first time the Princess had been pictured since revealing her diagnosis. Taken in June 2024, the evocative portrait showed Kate looking reflective as she posed in the gardens at Windsor, dressed in a pair of jeans and trainers as she looked up to the sky from beneath a willow tree. ‘I have been blown away by all the kind messages of support and encouragement over the last couple of months. It really has made the world of difference to William and me and has helped us both through some of the harder times,’ the Princess wrote in the caption to the photograph on Instagram. ‘I am learning how to be patient, especially with uncertainty. Taking each day as it comes, listening to my body, and allowing myself to take this much needed time to heal.’

The picture currently has almost three million likes on social media, proving that the task of royal photographer is a weighty responsibility indeed. Luckily, with professionals like Matt Porteous and Josh Shinner behind the lens, the Wales family are in very good hands.

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