Prince Louis christening photos: Official pictures of royal baby's christening released

A collection of family photographs have been released to mark the christening of Prince Louis.

The four official images were taken by British photographer Matt Holyoak at Clarence House after Louis was baptised by the Archbishop of Canterbury in The Chapel Royal at St James's Palace.

The photographs were released by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to mark the milestone.

In a big family photo, Kate and William are joined by their children, along with Harry and Meghan, Charles and Camilla, and the Middleton family including Kate's sister Pippa Matthews and her husband James.

Members of the royal family appear in another photo without the Middletons.

In the royal family photo, the Cambridge five sit in the morning room at Clarence House, with Louis in Kate's arms, Princess Charlotte gazing across at her baby brother and Prince George sitting on William's lap with a wide smile on his face.

Standing behind them are the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, along with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – with Meghan linking her hand through Harry's arm.

A third photo of the Cambridge family by themselves features Kate smiling down at Louis in her arms, while George stands with one hand in his pocket and Charlotte leans into the trailing christening gown.

A final image shows Kate and Louis in the garden at Clarence House, with the mother-of-three looking down at the bright-eyed royal baby in her arms.

Mr Holyoak said: "I was truly honoured at being asked to take the official photographs at the christening of Prince Louis, and to witness at first hand such a happy event.

"Everyone was so relaxed and in such good spirits, it was an absolute pleasure.

"I only hope I have captured some of that joy in my photographs."

Louis was sound asleep as he was carried into the Chapel Royal by Kate last Monday for the christening ceremony which lasted 40 minutes.

After the ceremony, the baby prince looked content and wiggled his fingers as Kate gazed down and beamed at him as she held him in her arms.

With Prince George and Princess Charlotte joining their parents for Louis's big day, it was the first time the Cambridges were seen together as a family of five.

What we know about Prince Louis:

1) His full name is HRH Prince Louis Arthur Charles of Cambridge.

2) He was born on patriotic St George's Day - April 23 - at 11.01am at the private Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, London.

3) He weighed 8lb 7oz - but was not the heaviest royal baby in modern times. The Queen's first great-grandchild Savannah Phillips weighed 8lb 8oz in 2010, and the newest addition to the Windsors, Zara Tindall's daughter Lena, born last month, weighed 9lb 3oz.

4) Louis, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's third child, is the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh's sixth great-grandchild. They now have seven after the arrival of Lena Tindall.

5) He slept well early on. Two days after Louis was born, William revealed at an Anzac Day service that the baby and Kate were "in good form, luckily". "Sleeping's going reasonably well so far, so he's behaving himself, which is good," he added.

6) But it's three times as much worry for the duke. Father of three William declared it was "thrice the worry now" when he left the hospital with the duchess to take newborn Louis back home to Kensington Palace.

7) The name took people by surprise. William and Kate had already used Louis as one of Prince George's middle names, but liked it so much they decided to use it again. It has a poignant meaning for the Windsors. Louis was the name of the Prince of Wales's beloved great-uncle Earl Mountbatten, who was murdered by the IRA in 1979.

8) Princess Charlotte is smitten with her little brother. Kensington Palace released sweet images of Charlotte cuddling baby Louis to mark her third birthday. Charlotte was pictured gently kissing the newborn on the top of his head.

9) He is unlikely to be king. Louis is fifth in line to the throne, with the Prince of Wales, William, George and Charlotte ahead of him in the line of succession.

Mr Holyoak has worked with a host of celebrities and his photos have regularly been splashed on the covers of magazines such as Harper's Bazaar, Shortlist and Dazed and Confused.

He is not new to working with the royals, as he photographed the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh as part of a series of portraits released to mark their 70th wedding anniversary.