Kate Middleton’s portrait of Prince George for his ninth birthday is pretty sweet

Happy birthday Prince George!

Prince George is celebrating his ninth birthday today, and for the occasion, an official portrait has been released.

Taken by his mother, the Duchess of Cambridge, it’s a sweet image of the prince smiling on a beach. Kate captured the image of her son during a family holiday in the UK earlier this month.

In the photograph, Prince George can be seen in a pale blue shirt, grinning with an out of focus background showing a sandy beach.

Kensington Palace said the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were “delighted” to share the happy image with the public.

The Cambridges are believed to be on holiday currently – possibly in Mustique. The private island in the islands of St Vincent and the Grenadines has long been a favourite of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

On their last visit to the island in 2019, they celebrated Prince George‘s sixth birthday there.

Kate, who often takes the portraits of her children that are shared on their birthdays, is well known for having a love of photography.

She even photographed the Duchess of Cornwall for the front cover of Country Life, and was praised by Camilla for her “extremely good” photography skills.

In a video released by ITV news, Camilla said of the experience: “We had a lot of fun.  It was very relaxed. It was very kind the Duchess of Cambridge came with her camera, she’s an extremely good photographer.”

Kensington Palace also released portraits taken by the Duchess of Cambridge of Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte on their birthdays earlier this year.

In the image of Louis, the four-year-old can be seen playing on the beach, while the images of seven-year-old Charlotte were taken at their family home at Anmer Hall, in Norfolk.

In one adorable snap, Princess Charlotte is grinning as she wraps her arm around the family dog, a black spaniel named Orla.

Kate is said to have inherited her love of photography from her grandpa who apparently was also very good behind the camera.

Claudia Acott Williams, curator at Historic Royal Palaces, told the Express: “When she was a child, he would show her his slides. It was him who taught her how to take photographs.”