Proud royal parents pose for pictures

The Duchess of Cambridge beams as Prince George sleeps peacefully in her arms, in the first official pictures of Britain’s new royal baby, released on Tuesday. Prince William places a protective arm around his new family in the two photographs, taken by Duchess Kate Middleton’s father in the back garden of her family home in Bucklebury. The fact that the first official pictures of baby George were not taken by an official photographer will be read by some as another example of the royal couple’s determination to carve their own path. The images’ release comes after Prince William told the world that his wife and new son are his top priorities. In his first interview since becoming a father, the prince told CNN: “For me, Catherine, and now little George are my priorities. “And Lupo,” he added, a reference to the royal couple’s cocker spaniel who featured in one of the snaps. The Duchess of Cambridge was doing a "fantastic job", William said. "I think the last few weeks for me have been just a very different emotional experience," he confided. "Something I never thought I would feel myself. And I find, again it's only been a short period, but a lot of things affect me differently now. " The prince also described his four-week-old son as “a little bit of a rascal”. "He either reminds me of my brother or me when I was younger, I'm not sure, but he's doing very well at the moment." Describing the moment the world watched as he and Kate left the hospital with George, William said he was" happy to show him off to whoever wanted to see him". He added: "I think I was on such a high anyway. As any new parent knows, you're only too happy to show off your new child and proclaim that he is the best-looking or the best everything. "It's nice that people want to see George, so I'm just glad he wasn't screaming his head off the whole way through." The proud father also revealed he had changed George’s first nappy, a moment he described as a “badge of honour”.