Mothering Sunday: British Royals Share Personal Photos for Mother's Day in UK

Unlike in the United States and other countries where Mother's Day is celebrated every second Sunday of May, in the United Kingdom it is celebrated in March, and it is traditionally called Mothering Sunday.

For this occasion, The Prince and Princess of Wales share unpublished photos of Catherine and their children: Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.

Catherine, the Princess of Wales and her children. Photo: Matt Porteous

These unpublished photos were taken in the summer of 2022 and photographed by Matt Porteous. These photos are part of the photo that the Prince and Princess of Wales used as their Season Greeting's Card 2022, released in December 2022.

Mothering Sunday from Prince and Princess of Wales. credit: Matt Porteous

The first photo shows Catherine and the children sitting on the tree branches at their Norfolk residence in Anmer Hall. We assumed this is not a tall tree as they managed to climb the branches.

The second photo shows Catherine lifting the cheeky Prince Louis, everybody's favorite royal tot, who was giggling at the loving action of his mother.

Catherine and Princess Louis. credit: Matt Porteous

King Charles III, through The Royal Family's official social media accounts, shares a childhood photo with his young mother, Princess Elizabeth. This photo was believed to have been taken in 1950 when the king was less than two years old.

Happy Mothering Sunday to all mothers in the world!

King Charles III as a child with his mother, Princess Elizabeth

History of Mothering Sunday in the UK

Why the United Kingdom has a different Mother's Day celebration? In the United States and other countries, Mother's Day will be celebrated on May 14, 2023, but in the United Kingdom this year it falls on March 19, Sunday.

Here's a brief history.

The UK date of this celebration is rooted in the Christian observance of Lent, with Mothering Sunday taking place on the fourth Sunday, precisely three weeks before Easter Sunday.

During the Middle Ages, there was a custom developed of allowing people, who had moved away from where they grew up, to come back and visit their home or "mother" churches, and their mothers, on the fourth Sunday of the Christian festival of Lent.

At the time it wasn't uncommon for children to leave home to work when they were as young as 10, so this was an opportunity for families to meet up again. 

This tradition became known as Mothering Sunday in England. As the dates of Lent vary each year, so does the date of Mothering Sunday. 

Centuries later, with the United States establishing its own Mother's Day in 1907, Mothering Sunday ultimately became Mother's Day. However, Mother's Day in the United Kingdom has no connection with American Mother's Day. 

Mother's Day in the United States

It was established by Anna Jarvis, with the first official Mother's Day celebrated through a service of worship at St. Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, on May 10, 1908. 

In 1868, Ann Jarvis, Anna Jarvis's mother, organized a committee to establish a "Mother's Friendship Day", the purpose of which was "to reunite families that had been divided during the Civil War." 

On May 8, 1914, the U.S. Congress passed a law designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day and requesting a proclamation. The next day, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation declaring the first national Mother's Day.