In 2016, the Prince and Princess of Wales enjoyed a family holiday in the French Alps with their two children, Prince Georgeand Princess Charlotte.
The vacation marked their first holiday as a family-of-four, with Kensington Palace opting to share six charming pictures in honour of the special occasion. A handful of stand-out images showed Princess Kate playfully launching a snowball at her husband, much to his surprise!
At the time, they also shared a statement which read: “This was their first holiday as a family of four and the first time either of the children had played in the snow.
“It was a very special and fun short holiday for the family, and they are grateful that John Stillwell [The PA photographer] was able to capture the moment so well. The Duke and Duchess hope people enjoy the photos.”
But did you know that the photoshoot carries an incredible backstory?
During an appearance on HELLO!’s A Right Royal Podcast, the photographer behind the iconic images, John Stillwell, revealed that the surprising photoshoot came about thanks to two key factors… the weather and Princess Kate’s cheeky sense of humour.
In his official capacity as a PA royal photographer, John explained how the skiing pictures he initially had in mind never took place as it was “really misty” up on the mountains. As a back-up plan, John had the royals pose outside the hotel where he stumbled across a quiet road brimming with snow.
Recounting the memorable moment, John said: “So we go around to the back there and William said ‘What are we going to do? We’re supposed to be skiing’ and I said ‘Well, no one knows you can’t ski today, we’ll just do them here.”
“He said ‘OK fine, what do you want me to do?’ And I said ‘The pair of you walk just 30 yards away and then walk back towards me and I’ll take some pictures.”
Sharing the story behind the iconic snowball fight, John explained how he quickly came up with the idea and told Kate as they prepared to walk away from the camera.
“He [William] walked away and as Kate walked away I tapped her on the shoulder and said ‘Kate, when you get down there, make a snowball and have a snowball fight… but push it in his face, ‘”John said.
“She went ‘Pardon?’ and I said, ‘Just whack him in the face with a snowball.’ I didn’t think she’d do it, but she did… He [Willam] saw the funny side of it.”
In another turn of events, Prince George and Princess Charlotte also made an appearance alongside their parents, despite John initially planning to photograph the royal tots separately on the balcony.
John’s charming image showed the youngsters clad in their snow gear with George rocking a navy snowsuit and a red bobble hat, while teeny Charlotte looked adorable dressed in a white padded snowsuit, pink boots and a pastel Fair Isle hat in white and candy pink.
