Happy Birthday Prince George! The young royal turns four on Saturday and to celebrate, Kensington Palace has released a new portrait of the handsome little prince, taken by royal photographer Chris Jackson. The image shows the Prince looking ecstatic as he sits in front of a dark background wearing a blue and white striped shirt.
In the past the Duchess of Cambridge has typically taken the official birthday portraits of both Prince George and Princess Charlotte, however this time they have chosen Chris Jackson for the job. The Getty photographer married Kate's stylist Natasha Archer at the end of April, and has joined the royals on a number of their tours in recent years, capturing many iconic pictures.
Prince George stars in a new official birthday portrait
The release of the portrait follows a memorable week for Prince George, who has spent the past five days on the royal tour of Poland and Germany alongside his sister Princess Charlotte and parents the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The youngster appeared shy as they touched down in Warsaw on Monday, with his father seen coaxing him out of their plane and onto the runway. Then, on their arrival in Berlin two days later, George was captured rubbing his eyes, clearly feeling tired from the excursion from Poland.
MORE: How Prince George and Princess Charlotte have stolen the show on royal tour
Royal fans have had several opportunities to see Prince George over the last few months, including at the annual Trooping the Colour parade to celebrate the Queen's birthday in June. Although the Prince appeared bemused by the crowds who had lined the Mall in order to catch a glimpse of him and the rest of the family, he loved the flypast and was spotted waving to the planes as they flew over Buckingham Palace.
The Prince has just arrived home following the royal tour
The outing came just a couple of weeks after Prince George acted as a pageboy for the wedding of his Aunt Pippa Middleton to James Matthews in Bucklebury, Berkshire. Dressed in traditional knickerbockers and a double breasted shirt, George couldn't have looked sweeter as he joined his fellow pageboys and flower girls outside the church ahead of the service.
Prince George has also participated in a second royal tour in the past 12 months – his family's visit to Canada at the end of September. While there his love of planes became even more apparent when he proudly declared to his parents that he was going to "fly them to England" when they boarded a seaplane in Victoria, British Columbia.
The family will spend their pre-schooler's fourth birthday quietly at home in Norfolk following a busy time abroad in Europe over the past few days. We wish the adorable little tot a very happy day!