Some may remember the Royalist forecasting that Kate and William would have trouble protecting the privacy of their son on the tour of Australia and so it has come to pass, as the mainstream Australian broadcaster Channel 10 defied the express wishes of both Kensington Palace and the federal Australian government to run sneaked pictures and video of of Kate, William and baby George, taken on their day off and without their knowledge.

Kate, 32, was filmed running with her son on her shoulders in the grounds of Government House at Yarralumla in Canberra, where the family is based for the last leg of their three-week tour Down Under.

The shots were taken legally from a public road.

An aide said: “We were just anxious that it didn’t turn into a circus. We would rather the pictures weren’t taken but it was no more than a gentle request.”