Prince William and Kate Middleton just posted an unusually affectionate photo

During their latest Royal tour of Ireland.

It's been yet another very busy week for the Royal family: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle returned to London to perform their last duties as senior Royals, it was shared that Princess Beatrice will be inheriting two impressive titles from husband-to-be Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi and some Royal family coronavirus comments were made that, ahem, did not go down very well.

Meanwhile, Prince William and Kate Middleton have been on a three-day visit to Ireland and, this time, they appeared to have swayed from Royal protocol somewhat.

Stereotypically, the Royal family doesn't post affectionate photographs together, and tend not to kiss or hold hands while out in public. On social media and more generally, they traditionally present themselves more formally, and share images of themselves on duty or with the younger members of the Royal family (including the newest Royal family member, Poppy).

But, last week while performing their Royal duties in Ireland, William and Kate seemingly broke the norm with an Instagram post from their trip (they had previously delayed their visit as their plane was postphoned due to bad weather). The photo shows them at the Howth Cliff Walk, a peninsula around 15km northeast of Dublin city, posing candidly and standing close to one another while laughing naturally, sharing a more intimate side to the couple that they don't normally broadcast.

The image appeared on the Duke and Duchess' official Instagram account, where they post under the @KensingtonRoyal handle and have 11.3 million followers.

The caption says:

'Go raibh míle maith agaibh, a chairde go léir in Éirinn 🇮🇪🇬🇧 Thank you to all the wonderful people we met in Ireland!

Swipe to see a sample of some of the lovely letters we received during #RoyalVisitIreland 📝 thank you to everyone that took the time to write to The Duke and Duchess.'

Will and Kate did plenty more than pose for photos during their trip to the Emerald City, trying their hand at hurling with some of the locals, visiting a Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) club and attending a briefing on Galway's appointment as the 2020 European Capital of Culture.

It might not be royally 'Royal', but what an honour to share these special moments with the couple.