Prince William Posts Touching Childhood Photo With His "Pa" King Charles For Father's Day
It's clear from the meaningful throwback photo that the Prince of Wales' love for soccer started early.


Prince William is honoring his dad King Charles on Father's Day by sharing a throwback photo of the pair enjoying some one-on-one, father-son time.
On Sunday, June 16, the Prince of Wales posted an old photo of the pair kicking around a small ball on a lawn, King Charles smiling while wearing a suit and tie and as he attempts to kick a multi-colored, soccer-like ball. A very young Prince William appears to be toddling around the yard, wearing a white and blue striped t-shirt and a pair of overall jeans, white socks and black buckled shoes.
"Happy Father’s Day, Pa," the Prince captioned the post, which was shared by Kensington Palace via it's social media accounts.
The Prince of Wales signed off on the post with a simple "W," proving that sometimes even the most meaningful of sentiments on a day meant to memorialize fathers can be, well, short.
A post shared by The Prince and Princess of Wales (@princeandprincessofwales)
A photo posted by on
The Father's Day post comes just one day after the royal family made a very public appearance at this year's Trooping the Colour, in honor of the monarch's second official birthday.
The ceremony was especially poignant this year, as it marked the first Trooping the Colour since the King was diagnosed with an unspecified type of cancer, as well as the first official public appearance by Kate Middleton since she was also diagnosed with cancer.
In response the Princess of Wales announcing her surprise Trooping the Colour appearance and giving an update on her cancer treatment, a spokesperson for Kensington Palace told People that her husband was “pleased to see The Princess starting to engage with the work and projects that are important to her.“
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"He will continue to focus his time on supporting his wife and children while continuing to undertake his public duties," the spokesperson added at the time.
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According to royal historian Gareth Russell, who previously spoke to Us Weekly, Prince William "wasn’t emotionally prepared" for both his wife and his father to be diagnosed with cancer at the same time.
"Yes, (the King) is elderly, but his father was famously quite healthy and lives well, eats well, and, according to his wife, Queen Camilla, just never stops walking,” Russell told the publication, referencing the apparent shock William felt at the time.
Russell went on to say that "so far," the Prince of Wales has shown himself to be "more than competent and capable” of stepping into his father's gigantic footsteps as he continues cancer treatments.
“William feels a profound sense of duty to uphold the monarchy’s stability and inspire confidence in the public that everything will be okay," a source told Us Weekly in April. "It’s an immense responsibility.”

Danielle Campoamor is Marie Claire's weekend editor covering all things news, celebrity, politics, culture, live events, and more. In addition, she is an award-winning freelance writer and former NBC journalist with over a decade of digital media experience covering mental health, reproductive justice, abortion access, maternal mortality, gun violence, climate change, politics, celebrity news, culture, online trends, wellness, gender-based violence and other feminist issues. You can find her work in The New York Times, Washington Post, TIME, New York Magazine, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, TODAY, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, InStyle, Playboy, Teen Vogue, Glamour, The Daily Beast, Mother Jones, Prism, Newsweek, Slate, HuffPost and more. She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and their two feral sons. When she is not writing, editing or doom scrolling she enjoys reading, cooking, debating current events and politics, traveling to Seattle to see her dear friends and losing Pokémon battles against her ruthless offspring. You can find her on X, Instagram, Threads, Facebook and all the places.
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