Prince William and Catherine’s latest tribute has an adorable connection to a passion shared across different generations of the Royal Family

Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales might currently be enjoying the summer holidays with their three children but they made time to take part in a rather surprising national holiday. Posting to their official Instagram page, the couple got involved with International Dog Day. While some fans found it a bit out of character on the official channel, others appreciated the connection dogs have had for different generations of the royals, from the Queen’s famous love of her Corgis to Kate’s brother, James Middleton, crediting his pooch with saving his life.

• Prince William and Catherine got involved with a fun social media holiday on Saturday, as they joined in the action for #InternationalDogDay
• Posting to their official Instagram page, the royal couple adorably shared a selection of dogs they’ve had the pleasure of meeting while out and about on duties
• In other royal news, Kate Middleton’s throwback leopard print skirt is a masterclass in making the bold print work for any occasion

The Prince and Princess of Wales’ Instagram page has historically been used to communicate words and thoughts directly from the future King and Queen to millions of followers.

Posts have included heartfelt tributes to spotlighting issues important to them, so their latest post this weekend took some fans by surprise – in the most adorable way.

After all, who could ever have expected the heir to the throne to share an Instagram reel using the audio from Baha Men’s Who Let The Dogs Out?

But that’s exactly what the 15M followers got on Saturday when the Prince and Princess of Wales shared a light-hearted tribute to man and woman’s best friends in honour of International Dog Day.

The unexpected song accompanied a round-up of all the times the royal pair have enjoyed meeting their four-legged subjects during royal engagements this year.

They included the caption, “Is the hashtag #DogsOnRoyalVisits a thing?! For #InternationalDogDay here are just some we've said hello to on the road this year.”

This is just another step in the major social media change William and Kate have pushed through this year, inviting a more relaxed, behind-the-scenes look at the life of the royal pair.

And it appears to be working. Comments for the doggy appreciation post were extremely paw-sitive, with fans writing, “Whoever is doing Team Wales social media needs a RAISE. Outstanding work!” and “Ahh love this! Please make it a royal tradition.”

While it might have been a bit of fun for the pair to take part in, there’s undoubtedly a deeper connection to animals that connects different branches of the family tree.

The late Queen Elizabeth was renowned the world over for her love of dogs (among other animals) – and she basically made the Corgi breed an icon of its own right.

Similarly, Catherine’s brother, James Middleton, has built a business around dogs, and has been candid about how his own dog helped him during his lowest moments with depression.

Queen Camilla is such a fan of her own dogs that she included a special tribute to them with a sweet, secret detail in her coronation gown.