Royal milestone Prince Louis is yet to hit - and he could have to wait a while

Prince George and Princess Charlotte may only be seven and five, but they are already very familiar with their royal lives.

They've been on royal tours, waved to fans on the Buckingham Palace balcony and had their photos taken countless times.

But things are a little different for their younger brother, Prince Louis.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's third child was born on April 23, 2018, and he's growing up fast.

But he's yet to hit one of the biggest and most important royal milestones - and it's all because of the Covid pandemic.

Despite turning three in the spring, Louis still hasn't been on a royal tour, which is disappointing news for the family and their fans.

George went on his first royal tour when he was just nine months old, visiting Australia and New Zealand with his proud parents.

Conscious of how their little boy would be affected by the time difference and constant moving, Kate and William took extra steps to make sure George had a "home from home" during their visit.

Speaking at the time, a royal source said: “The Duke and Duchess are anything but demanding, but there are lots of things that George will need and all the hosts are keen to do everything they can to provide what’s necessary.

“The couple’s main concern is that George should feel completely content and at home and that Maria should also have everything she needs to keep him happy.

“They want it to be as much of a home from home as possible.

“They are taking a large amount of stuff, including all of his nappies and clothes, and there are some things that are being provided at the other end.”

During the tour the couple chatting to well-wishers about their son, sharing lots of adorable details about the future king.

We also got to see him playing with other babies during a visit to a local nursery and we learnt he hadn't quite mastered the etiquette of group play.

After George's play date in Wellington, dad Grant Collinge, whose baby played with prince, said: "We spoke to the Duchess about group play - George had never played with so many babies before.

"She said it was the most amount of babies they'd ever had in a room with George.

"He does see other babies, but not many in a group like this.

"George is bubbly, quite feisty and he took control.

"He crawled to the centre of the room and he owned the place.

"He honed in on certain toys and took the ones that he wanted.

"No-one was going to stand in his way!"

His sister, Charlotte, made her royal tour debut in 2016 when she joined the family on a visit to Canada at 16 months.

During their visit the Cambridges went to a children's party for military families, where Charlotte looked adorable in a blue dress with a matching bow in her hair.

The was photographed playing with a balloon wall and made friends with a dog named Moose.

Meanwhile, Louis's cousin, Archie, joined his parents Prince Harry and Meghan Markle for their trip to South Africa in 2019.

We only got to see him a few times, and the highlight of the busy visit was when he went to meet Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

The couple shared an adorable video of the visit, which they captioned: 'Arch meets Archie'.

Tutu, who used the pulpit to preach against the injustices of white minority rule during apartheid, has battled prostate cancer for years and has largely withdrawn from public life.

During their meeting Meghan joked with the Archbishop’s daughter Thandeka Tutu Gxashe, that the little royal would have to get used the cameras in his life.

She said “I have cameras in my genes.” Meghan replied, “He’s an old soul”

Harry said, “I think he is used to it already”

The Archbishop’s daughter also joked, “You like the ladies. He’s going to be a ladies man”

Despite not having been on a royal tour year, little Louis did get to attend a Trooping the Colour ceremony before the lockdown came into force, which was his Buckingham Palace debut.

He looked adorable, if a little uncertain, as he sat in his mum's arms for the Queen's official birthday celebrations in June 2019.