Bruce and Denise Morcombe, the parents of slain teenager Daniel, have released their favourite photo of their late son, which they had planned to save for his funeral.

The picture was posted on the family's Facebook page last night.

"Wanted to keep my favourite photo till (sic) we had a funeral but waiting is forever, this is a photo taken of Dan at school which we were given after the arrest that we hadn't seen until then," Daniel's mother Denise wrote.

It has been almost a year since Daniel's accused killer Brett Peter Cowan was arrested. A long court process means Daniel's remains may not be returned to the Morcombe family until Mr Cown's trial is over.

Bruce Morcombe, according to Fairfax, says he would prefer to bury his son much sooner.

"Obviously we’re not comfortable with that, we’re not happy with that, but that's possible," he said.

Click here to visit Daniel Morcombe's Facebook page.