Cheekiest of grins as Louis turns a princely 6 years old

A NEW picture of a beaming Prince Louis was released yesterday to mark his sixth birthday.

- Emily Ferguson 

The cheeky royal was snapped lying on his front on a fleece blanket, grinning up at the camera in a photograph taken by mum Kate.

Captured in the last few days at Windsor, Louis is wearing a check shirt and navy shorts and appears to have lost a couple of baby teeth since his last official appearance on Christmas Day.

The unedited picture came after heightened speculation as to whether the Prince and Princess of Wales would release an image to mark the youngster's birthday.

Since their children were born they have shared new pictures of them the night before their birthday.

But no image was shared on Monday night. It therefore came as а welcome surprise when a new official picture of Louis was shared on the couple's social media accounts shortly after noon yesterday.

The post read: "Happy 6th Birthday, Prince Louis! Thank you for all the kind wishes today."