A VERY GAPPY BIRTHDAY! - ‘GEORGE DOESN'T GET SPECIAL TREATMENT'

AS HE CELEBRATES TURNING SEVEN OK! DISCOVER SHOW“POPULAR LITTLEBOY”PRINCE GEORGE IS BEING PROTECTEDFROM THE HEAVY BURDEN OF KINGSHIP THAT HIS FATHER FAMOUSLY STRUGGLED WITH

- MICHELLE GARNETT

The official new portraits of Prince George released by his parents the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to mark his seventh birthday illustrate just how much he’s grown up in the last year.

The two images, which were taken by Kate at Anmer Hall in early July, show the carefree gap-toothed heir to the throne dressed very casually compared to his Peter Pan collar shirts of old.

In one picture he wears a £10 camouflage T-shirt while in the other he’s in a £7.99 khaki polo shirt by Mango – his choice of clothes thought to be a nod to his obsession with helicopters and his family’s links to the military. The camouflage top in particular is reminiscent of an army jacket worn by his father William as a young boy.

The photographs give the impression of a happy little boy, who seems untroubled by the potential responsibilities of being a future king.

“George is an absolute pleasure to be around and that’s down to his parents,” says royal expert Katie Nicholl. “They’re not raising him to be spoilt or to have an inflated sense of his own importance. He doesn’t get special treatment just because he’s the future heir. They make a point of ensuring their three children feel equal and that they’re all treated the same.”

Despite their efforts, George, who’s currently third in line to the throne, is still thought to be aware that he’s different in some way from Princess Charlotte, five, and two-year-old Prince Louis. But unlike his father, who as a young man felt the weight of his kingship a heavy one to bear, George is being protected from that burden and the inevitability of how his life is set to pan out.