Princesses give up kissing frogs...

It seems the accessory of choice for princesses this summer is a dog.  Kate gave a starring role to Lupo in the long awaited first official pics of her with George, Mette-Marit of Norway has given us an almost day by day account of her pet pooch delivering nine puppies and now Tatiana Santo Domingo has put her pet centre stage in her wedding photos.  We all know royals are fond of their domestic pets but this is a whole new fashion trend.

 

Lupo stars in the photo of the summer, taking a prominent position in the official photo of the Cambridges with baby George.  The Middleton family dog, Tilly, managed to creep into the background for good measure

 

Canine star of the year had to be Lupo, pet dog of William and Kate.  After a four week wait for official photos of Prince George of Cambridge, the pressure was on for something spectacular.  We were expecting informal, at home with the Middletons, a modern take on a royal tradition.  We weren't expecting Lupo to steal the entire show.  So prominent is the pet in this historic portrait that some commentators mentioned it was more a photo of doggie rather than future king.  But it added to the ah factor by quite a lot and cemented the pooch's place in the family.

 

 

Where's Lupo?  The other official photo of Kate and her boys was a pooch free zone

 

Earlier this summer, the pet dog of Norwegian royals Haakon and Mette-Marit gave birth to nine puppies.  And a quick glance at the royal website over the last few months has allowed an almost moment by moment account of their arrival and first few weeks.  The Crown Princess posted scan photo of the puppies on her Twitter account and the press section of the Norwegian Royal Household now contains some very impressive photos of said puppies after their delivery with not a litter tray in sight.

 

 

It takes a very brave princess to allow nine new puppies on her white carpet right in front of her dove grey chaise longue.  Princess Mette-Marit's pet, Milly Kakao, had a big litter of little puppies this summer - let's hope they're house trained.

 

Letizia of Spain was missing a pet pooch to pose with but she did take her girls to a petting farm for their annual pose without the in-laws on Mallorca this summer.  The princess and her daughters were snapped next to goats, horses and sheep keeping up the animal theme for Europe's royals as the sun kept shining over head.

 







 

Adding a twist to the current trend for animals in official royal photos, the Prince and Princess of Asturias took their girls to a farm in Esporles in Mallorca on their annual break on the island

 

But the new royal bride of Monaco put dogs back centre stage.  Tatiana Casiraghi first of all treated us to a hen night with doggie in tow followed by an official wedding snap with said pooch trailing her down the stairs of the Prince's Palace while her guests, royal and otherwise, watched on.  Let's hope the rest of Europe's royals can keep up this trend, it should make the Christmas cards very cute this festive season.

 

 

Tatiana Santo Domingo's hen night, complete with pet on lap shot