Prince Edward was proud – and relieved – when King Charles finally named him as the new Duke of Edinburgh last year, fulfilling the stated wish of their parents.

And now Edward and his wife, Sophie, have gone to extraordinary lengths to emphasise their similarities with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip in their Christmas card.

The card features a photograph of Edward’s late parents in the brief, blissful days they spent in Malta before Elizabeth succeeded her father aged 25. 

At the time, they too were known as the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh.

Next to it is a picture of Edward and Sophie in an almost identical pose also in Malta during a visit to the Mediterranean island in October.

Beneath the images, the couple write: ‘The Edinburghs at Villa Guardamangia, Valettta in Malta, some 75 years apart.’

Closer inspection shows that, in a bid to mirror the Queen and Philip, Edward and Sophie have – in a practice known as ‘flipping’ – reversed the original image, which showed Edward on the left and Sophie on the right.

The clue’s in Edward’s double-breasted suit – which now appears as if buttoned right to left, as a woman’s jacket would be.

In March, a picture released by the Princess of Wales on Mothers' Day caused a stir after it emerged that it had been edited.

It was the first time she had been pictured publicly – officially at least – since undergoing abdominal surgery in January.

in an extraordinary development last night, foreign picture agencies including Reuters, AP, Getty and AFP withdrew the picture, saying it may have been digitally manipulated. 

It showed the mother-of-three beaming with Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis and was the first official picture released of Catherine after she underwent 'planned abdominal surgery' in January.

Admitting she did 'occasionally experiment with editing' on pictures, the Princess apologised for any 'confusion'.