The Queen's official Instagram account has shared the sweetest post in honour of birthday boy Prince Louis.
The image showed the little prince posing on his balance bike at Kensington Palace before attending his first day at Willcocks Nursery School. The photograph was originally shared by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's social media accounts, and the sweet snap was captured by mum Kate.
The caption read: "Wishing Prince Louis a very happy third birthday today. [bicycle emoji]. Taken earlier this week by The Duchess before he left for his first day of nursery, The Duke and Duchess are pleased to share a new image of Prince Louis. [balloon emoji]."
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Her Majesty's great-grandson, who is the youngest child of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, turned three on Friday. His birthday falls just a couple of days after the Queen's – the monarch marked her 95th birthday on Wednesday, although she did so privately as she mourns her late husband Prince Philip.
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It's a busy time for birthdays for the Cambridges as William and Kate's daughter Princess Charlotte is also turning six on Sunday 2 May.
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The royal couple will also mark their tenth wedding anniversary on 29 April.
© The Duchess of CambridgeWilliam and Kate shared a new photo of Louis to mark his third birthday
The new photo comes just days after Louis also starred in a sweet family photo of the Queen and Prince Philip with seven of their great-grandchildren. It was actually the first time Louis had been pictured with his great-grandmother for an official portrait and the snap showed the tiny tot sitting on the Queen's lap.
The group shot was taken by Kate during the royals' Scottish summer holiday in Balmoral in 2018 when Louis was around four months old.
© Photo: TwitterPrince Louis sitting on the Queen's lap in a photo from 2018
The Cambridges traditionally release new images of their children on their birthdays and special occasions, such as Christmas, with mum Kate being the designated photographer. Last year, the Duke and Duchess released a series of adorable shots of Louis getting messy with rainbow-coloured paint, to celebrate his second birthday.
A few weeks later Kate spoke to This Morning's Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield about the chaos that ensued behind the scenes when taking the photos of her son. The royal mum joked to the TV duo: "I should've taken a photograph of what I looked like after as well! Luckily, that wasn't documented but I was pretty much... I looked like Louis at the end of those."
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