Prince George is celebrating his ninth birthday, marking the end of what has been his busiest year as a working royal yet.
To celebrate the milestone, George was seen flashing a cheeky grin in a brand new portrait, shot by his mother Kate Middleton, on a UK beach.
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 of Cambridge will have pulled out all of the stops to make it a "really special" day for she and Prince William's firstborn.
She said: "George’s birthday falls in the school holidays so I would imagine it will be 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.
Prince George’s birthday photos through the years as he grins in 9th annual snap
"Kate bakes a cake and they have people round to the house. There’s a focus on just being at home with those nearest and dearest," she adds.
"They 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."
In the candid new snap, George looks like any other happy nine year old as he beams into the camera, wearing a casual blue polo t-shirt while standing on the beach.
Kate, 40, is a keen amateur photographer, and is well-known for taking many of the official family photos that she and Prince William, also 40, have released to the public.
The Cambridges release snaps of their children, George, Charlotte, seven, and Louis, four, taken by Kate to mark each of their birthdays every year.
Kate also took the official photographs of her step-mother-in-law, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall to mark her 75th birthday this month.
The photos were used for Country Life magazine when they featured Camilla on their July cover to celebrate her milestone birthday.
Speaking in a documentary about the curation of the issue, Camilla said: "They are very good pictures. She does it very naturally. We had a lot of fun doing it.
"It was very relaxed and very kind that the Duchess of Cambridge came with her camera – she is an extremely good photographer. It was all very casual.
"There wasn't much hair or makeup. It was just done in the garden with a lot of laughs. It was a lovely way of doing it."
George has been seen on plenty of outings with his parents, Prince William and Kate, this year, as they slowly introduce him to public life.
He was spotted putting on a united display with his family as they celebrated his great grandmother, The Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June.
Prince George was also in the Royal Box at the Wimbledon tennis final with William and Kate, as they watched three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic defeated Nick Kyrgios.
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