BIRTHDAY BOY 'GEORGE KNOWS ONE DAY HE WILL BE KING'

PRINCE GEORGE CELEBRATED HIS NINTH BIRTHDAY LAST WEEK, MARKING THE END OF WHAT HAS BEEN THE YOUNGSTER'S BUSIEST YEAR AS A WORKING ROYAL YET

- SAMUEL MCMANUS-MAXWELL

Prince George turned nine last week, and to celebrate the milestone, he was pictured posing on the beach in a delightful portrait shot by his mother, the Duchess of Cambridge.

Flashing a cheeky grin, George looks like any other nine-year-old boy, dressed in a casual blue polo shirt as he stands smiling on the sand.

To mark each of their birthdays, every year the Cambridges release a picture of their children George, Charlotte and Louis, shot by Kate. Earlier this month, Kate also took a photograph of her stepmother-inlaw, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, for her 75th birthday portrait.

Although we will probably never know what really goes on behind palace walls on the birthday of a future monarch, royal biographer Katie Nicholl tells OK! that the duchess will have pulled out all the stops to make it a “really special” day.

“George’s birthday falls in the school holidays so I would imagine it will have been celebrated at Anmer Hall and, in keeping with past birthdays, it’s usually spent with friends and family and is a pretty low-key affair. Kate bakes a cake and they have people round to the house,” she says. “There’s a focus on just being at home with those nearest and dearest,” she adds.

She continues, “The children aren’t spoilt with presents, they never go over the top, but George will have had a wish list and would have had lots of lovely presents to open up on his birthday.”

The Queen led tributes to her great-grandson with a photo of the pair on the official Royal Family Twitter page. Her Majesty is seen smiling at George on the balcony at Buckingham Palace. The post reads, “Happy 9th Birthday Prince George!” alongside a cake emoji.