Australia ( CNN ) -- Major royal tours like the one the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge embarked on this month act as milestones in a royal career . The images that come out of them will be used in perpetuity to illustrate an ongoing history of monarchy . In New Zealand and Australia there have been dozens pictures that made great magazine spreads but I have chosen three that I think say something more . The royal 'crawl-about ' On the face of things , this was just a play date at Government House in Wellington , New Zealand , but it had been organized for a future king and was the starting gun for a lifetime of official engagements for Prince George . I chose a picture from the end of the event because it 's also an intimate portrait of a close-knit family unit with hands-on parents who people can relate to . Every parent has had one of these moments and it 's what makes parenthood worth it . Uluru sunset . The Duchess has never been to Australia before and what stronger message could there be to say she has arrived ? It 's a rite of passage for tourists to have a picture taken at Uluru at sunset . But this image is also loaded with family history . Prince Charles and Diana posed in the same spot on their first foreign tour as a family . The interesting thing here is that Kate and William 's picture did n't work . The shoot was rushed and the couple looked awkward . You can even see the shadows of photographers at their feet . This picture places Kate in a country where she will be Queen but it also speaks to the media pressure the couple are under and trying to juggle . Future head of state . Prince William knows he has n't been the headline act of this tour , with the spotlight firmly fixed on his wife and son . But look closely and there 's been an interesting shift in his public appearances . There were the usual fun moments , typified by sporting challenges with his wife and intimate moments with his son , but there 's also a creeping formality to his engagements . This was most obvious for me when he sat down with the Australian Prime Minister , Tony Abbott , in Sydney . It was a kingly side that I ca n't remember seeing in him before -- Prince William is a future head of state . During this tour we got to know a new generation of royalty ( George ) but we also saw an existing one ( William and Kate ) mature . They are doing it in their own way by focusing on events that reflect their personal interests ( conservation , the military , sport , young people and hospices ) and they 've done so to rapturous praise in the Australian media and amongst the political leadership . If they have n't killed off the republican debate , they 've at least put it on the back burner . They 've also added a chapter to their official biography .
The royal tour images will be used to illustrate an ongoing history of monarchy , writes CNN 's Max Foster . The shoot at Uluru was rushed and the couple looked awkward , he says . Prince William showed for the first time a kingly side , reports Foster . The tour brought rapturous praise from the Australian media and political leadership , he says .