Catherine, Princess of Wales, and her children have drawn pictures of each other

Catherine, Princess of Wales, and her children have drawn pictures of each other.

The 43-year-old royal shared the portraits sketched by herself and Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, nine, and six-year-old Prince Louis on the joint Instagram account she shares with husband Prince William in order to promote an initiative from her Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood.

The first drawing, by Louis, has been outlined in bright red and features orange curly hair.

Charlotte's artwork highlighted someone with blue, purple and green hair, while the third, by George was a black line drawing that appeared to be of his mother sitting cross-legged in a chair.

Lastly, the final picture by Catherine depicted one of her sons with their eyes closed.

The social media post was captioned: "The @earlychildhood Shaping Us Framework describes the social and emotional skills which start to develop in early childhood.

"These skills are key throughout our lives, shaping who we are, how we manage our thoughts and emotions, how we communicate with and relate to others, and how we explore the world around us.

"Drawing portraits with children can provide a moment of connection as you spend time looking at and focusing on one another, as well as being creative and – most importantly – having lots of fun together!"

The pictures were released two weeks after Catherine joined a school trip on a visit to the National Portrait Gallery in London to launch the Bobeam Tree Trail, a new initiative from The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood aimed at supporting youngsters with their social and emotional skills.

And during the visit, the princess praised the way portraiture can help younger children learn about empathy.

According to the Telegraph, she said: “It’s such a great way for children to engage and understand other people’s perspectives in a creative and less intimidating way.

"They don’t have the language yet, but they’re finding ways to talk about emotions and feelings and understand them.

“I’m really excited to be using portraiture to explore social and emotional skills because I feel it’s such an untapped potential, but also to make it accessible to lots of kids so it’s not just in school but is something that’s embraced by the community.”