Princess Kate breaks key tradition with Prince George’s 10th birthday picture

The Prince and Princess of Wales release a new image for Prince George’s 10th birthday (Image: Millie Pilkington / PA) The Prince and Princess of Wales have proudly shared a new portrait of the future King, Prince George, to mark his 10 th birthday on Saturday, July 22. Prince George is pictured sitting on the steps of Windsor Castle , with his arms casually resting on his knees. Beaming and wearing shades of blue and green, he wears a rolled-up, checked sleeved shirt and long trousers, paired with brown suede shoes. Breaking a key family birthday tradition, the image was taken by a professional photographer instead of his mother, Princess Kate , who typically takes a new picture of her children each year to share with the nation on their birthdays. The royal snap celebrating the significant age – double digits – was taken by photographer, Millie Pilkington earlier this month. Ms Pilkington was also asked by Princess Kate to take the birthday portrait of Princess Charlotte for her eighth birthday, and the iconic image released featured the Princess cuddling their black spaniel, Orla, in a garden at Windsor. Kate took the photo of George during their family break to mark his ninth birthday (Image: The Princess of Wales) The future King will reportedly celebrate his 10th birthday at home with his parents, Prince William and Princess Kate, as well as his siblings, Princess Charlotte, eight and Prince Louis, five. Like any parent, Princess Kate enjoys taking birthday photos of her family and over the years has taken her own photographs of Prince George to commemorate the special occasion and share with the nation. For Prince George’s ninth birthday, his mum Princess Kate took the photo while the family was on holiday in the UK. It shows Prince George smiling widely at the camera lens on a beach. To mark George’s eighth birthday, Kate got behind the camera, once again, for a shot of the future monarch sitting on the hood of a car, wearing a blue polo shirt with orange stripes. The portrait appeared to have a subtle tribute to Prince Philip, as the car was a Land Rover, a favourite car of late Queen Elizabeth’s husband. The Princess of Wales enjoys taking images to celebrate birthdays – Prince George, seven (Image: The Princess of Wales) Princess of Wales released a series of snaps to celebrate Prince George’s seventh birthday (Image: Princess of Wales) Prince George celebrated his seventh birthday in lockdown when the family spent time at their country home in Norfolk. That year, the Prince and Princess of Wales released two photographs of their son, sporting a green theme. He wore an olive polo shirt in one image, and a khaki military-style t-shirt in another. One of the photos appeared to show George in front of a painted door, possibly at Anmer Hall, and the other out on a walk in the countryside. Kate and Prince William relocated from London to Anmer Hall in Norfolk with their children before lockdown came into place in March 2020. In honour of Prince George’s sixth birthday, he was snapped at Kensington Palace proudly wearing an England football top. At the time, the post was shared by the Royal Family’s Twitter account, and it also included three lion emojis. Outside the Lindo Wing of St. Mary’s hospital, 2013 (Image: Getty Images) Previous birthday snaps of when the Prince was a tot have been taken by world-renowned photographers, including Chris Jackson and Mario Testino. Prince George was born on July 22, 2013, at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington where the news of his birth was celebrated all over the world. The Prince and Princess of Wales left the hospital wing the next day, after an iconic photo call on the steps of the Lindo Wing to allow the world to catch a first glimpse of the Prince when he was born.