Prince Louis attended a polo match with the rest of his family yesterday – but it seems that the little fellow enjoyed sucking his thumb more than watching the action.
The one-year-old joined his mum Kate Middleton, and his siblings George and Charlotte, at Prince William and Prince Harry’s charity event in Surrey.
And not for the first time in recent weeks, Louis was seen with his thumb placed firmly between his lips.
However, if an old family video is anything to go by, his late grandmother Princess Diana would NOT have approved of his habit.
The clip, filmed in 1986, shows the Princess of Wales carrying a young Prince Harry during a family trip to Majorca.
No sooner has Harry put his thumb in his mouth than his mum removes it again.
And Diana probably did the young lad a favour, as a dental expert has warned that thumb sucking can eventually cause damage to the teeth, as well as speech problems such as lisping.
Sally McCluskey of The Implant Centre told Fabulous Digital: “Thumb sucking can be problematic, as it can cause the alignment of the teeth to change, causing the upper front teeth to protrude and sometimes the lower from teeth to tilt backwards.
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“This can lead to problems, particularly if the child falls over, as the teeth being in a more prominent position can be damaged.
“Having said this, thumb sucking is a huge comfort for many children, and therefore parents should not be made to feel bad if their child does this.”
Prince Louis was first spotted partaking in the habit during the Trooping of the Colour in London last month – during the Queen’s official birthday celebrations.
On that occasion, William and Kate stepped in to remove his thumb from his mouth.
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Joining Kate Middleton and her brood at the Billingbear Polo Club in Wokingham yesterday were Meghan Markle and her son Archie.
However, the Duchess of Sussex was criticised on social media for the way she was holding the tot.
One person mocked on Twitter: “Meghan looks like she’s about to drop him.”
Another spat: “You can tell she doesn’t even take care of her own kid. What kind of mother holds their baby like that.”
However, some leapt to Meghan’s defence, including one observer who wrote: “She’s still new to it and we’ve all held our babies awkwardly.”
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