The Duchess On Her Vogue Experience

The Duchess Of Cambridge may have been photographed many thousands of times over the past five and a half years since her engagement to Prince William was announced, but the experience of a Vogue shoot was a new one even for her. Photographed by Josh Olins in the Norfolk countryside, the Duchess appears very at home in front of the camera - with Olins declaring her a "natural" - but revealed that her children have an even more relaxed approach.

"From taking photographs of George and Charlotte, I have been struck by the wonderful lack of self-consciousness that you see in photographs of children, without the self-awareness that adults generally feel," she told Vogue editor-in-chief Alexandra Shulman for the piece that accompanies the 10-page shoot in Vogue's June 2016 issue.

The Duchess has a keen personal interest in portraiture and has taken several of the official pictures of her children released by Kensington Palace to mark important occasions, including four new portraits of Princess Charlotte released yesterday to mark her birthday today. Having participated in choosing not only the clothes worn in the shoot and the locations used as a backdrop, but also the photographer who captured the images, the Duchess was pleased with the resulting feeling of informality in the final shots.

Two of the images have now been installed in the National Portrait Gallery, of which the Duchess is a patron, where they form a part of the Vogue 100: A Century of Style exhibition.

The June 2016 centenary issue of Vogue will be on newsstands nationwide and available to download from Thursday May 5. "Vogue 100: A Century of Style" is at the National Portrait Gallery until May 22, and tickets are still available from Npg.org.uk.