Prince Charles posts sweet throwback photos for Prince William’s 40th birthday

One image shows Charles holding newborn William outside the Lindo Wing

Prince William and Prince Charles at Home Farm in Gloucestershire (PA)

The Prince of Wales has shared several throwback pictures of himself with the Duke of Cambridge to mark his eldest son’s 40^th birthday.

A post to the official Clarence House Instagram account on Tuesday 21 June included five pictures of the father and son throughout Prince William’s lifetime.

“Wishing the Duke of Cambridge a very happy 40th birthday!” Prince Charles wrote in the caption. “Swipe through the decades!”

The first photograph – a black and white image – shows a young Charles outside the Lindo Wing at St Mary’s Hospital in London, holding a newborn Prince William.

Another shows the pair sitting on a ski lift during a skiing holiday in Switzerland in February 1994.

A third shows the pair during a visit to the Duchy Home Farm in Gloucestershire, tending to some dairy cattle.

One image depicts the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall, William and Prince George on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during the 2015 Trooping the Colour ceremony.

The last photograph appears to be the most recent and shows father and son smiling, as Charles rests his head on William’s shoulder.

The Queen, William’s grandmother, has also taken to social media on Tuesday to send well wishes to William.

A heartwarming thread shared to the Royal Family’s Twitter account celebrated some key milestones throughout William’s life.

This included a photograph of William at his graduation from St Andrew’s University in June 2005, which showed the Queen dressed in yellow and smiling at her grandson.

Another shows William on his wedding day to the Duchess of Cambridge.

Tusk and Centrepoint, two charities of which William is a patron, have also wished the prince a happy birthday.

“We would like to wish Prince William a very happy 40th birthday and take this opportunity to express our deep appreciation for his unswerving support and encouragement as Royal Patron of Tusk since 2005,” the animal conservation charity said.

Centrepoint, an organisation working to end youth homelessness in the UK said: “Happy 40th birthday to our wonderful patron, Prince William, HRH The Duke of Cambridge. Thank you for everything you do to shine a light on youth homelessness!”

William responded to the well wishes on Twitter. “Thank you for all the happy birthday messages today!” he wrote.