Happy (almost) birthday, Prince George!
A new picture in honor of the young royal’s 4th birthday on Saturday, July 22, has been released by his parents, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Kensington Palace shared the photo in a tweet — complete with a birthday ballon emoji — late Friday.
The photo shows his royal highness smiling jovially and looking ever so dapper in a blue-and-white pinstriped shirt.
The photograph was taken at the end of last month at Kensington Palace by Chris Jackson, the royal photographer for Getty Images.
“The Duke and Duchess are very pleased to share this lovely picture as they celebrate Prince George's fourth birthday, and would like to thank everyone for all of the kind messages they have received,” the palace said in a statement.
Despite his young age, the future British king has a passport with far more stamps than many. George, along with his 2-year-old sister, Princess Charlotte, returned Friday from a whirlwind goodwill trip their parents took to Poland and Germany.
Much news had been made about George’s pouty demeanor upon his arrival at each country’s airport, but the world got to see the charming young man they’ve come to cherish when the royals got to tour helicopters at an Airbus factory in Hamburg, Germany.
George is third in line for the British throne, behind his father, Prince William, and his grandfather, Prince Charles.
Although the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were more restrictive about public photos of their children shortly after the birth of Charlotte, the past year has provided plenty of opportunities to see how the two young children have been growing up. In addition to their tour through Europe this past week, both George and Charlotte played roles at the May wedding of their aunt, Pippa Middleton, the younger sister of Kate.