Beaming Princess Charlotte poses with Princes George and Louis in Christmas Day photo

The Prince and Princess of Wales have celebrated Christmas by releasing a new photograph of their three children, arms around each other in a picture of family joy.

Princess Charlotte, eight, beams for the camera and puts her arms around her brothers.

Prince George, the tallest at age ten, looks confidently into the camera, while five-year-old Prince Louis leans in to his big sister.

The children are sitting on a long antique chair, not unlike a garden bench in appearance, for the black and white photograph, in which they are dressed casually in coordinated white shirts.

The two older children wear jeans, while Prince Louis has a pair of smart shorts. Charlotte and Louis have matching slip-on trainers, while George follows in the footsteps of his father’s suede lace-up shoes.

The image is the second to be released from a series taken by photographer Josh Shinner. The first was used on the Wales’ Christmas card, and featured all five of the family.

Shinner, best known for his work with celebrities and fashion magazines, has spoken of how he prides himself on helping his subjects to relax, with this among the most informal and happy images of the Royal family to date.

The set is a new photographic direction for the family, who have tended to favour outdoor countryside photoshoots in colour for their Christmas card.

They have created their own tradition of releasing pictures of the children taken by the Princess of Wales.

This picture, in black and white, is reminiscent of images of the young Prince William and Prince Harry as boys, with their father and late mother.

It was the first royal assignment for Shinner, a Yorkshire-born photographer now based in London who has taken portraits of actors, singers and models for Vogue, Esquire, the FT, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

The first image inspired royal-watchers to remark on how the children have grown this year, with Princess Charlotte transformed from little girl to smart schoolgirl.

Prince George wears a Ralph Lauren shirt, a brand favoured by his late grandmother Diana.

The photographs were taken in Windsor, where the family live in Adelaide Cottage.

“I’ve always loved portraiture and the people I most enjoy photographing are those that take some warming up,” Shinner said in a Harper’s Bazaar interview this year.

“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.”

Christmas at Sandringham

The King and Queen are to celebrate Christmas Day alongside other members of the Royal family at Sandringham.

The private Norfolk estate will once again host the traditional royal festivities.

The King and Queen are expected to be joined by the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis for morning service at St Mary Magdalene Church.

Along with the Princess Royal and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, the King and Queen waved to well-wishers while attending a Christmas Eve service at the church on Sunday.

Royal Christmases traditionally feature the greeting of people outside the church, and a family lunch with turkey and all the trimmings.

Sandringham House has been the private home of four generations of British monarchs for more than 160 years, and now belongs to the King.

The King’s second Christmas message as monarch will be broadcast at 3pm, and this year it was recorded in the Centre Room in Buckingham Palace which leads on to the royal residence’s iconic balcony.

The room is decorated with a living Christmas tree which will be replanted after the broadcast.

From its branches hang natural and sustainable decorations including hand-turned wood, dried oranges, glass baubles, pine cones and paper.

The King, like Queen Elizabeth II, writes his Christmas broadcasts and last year he followed his mother’s well-established template, a personal reflection on the year, touching on current issues and with a Christian framework.