GAPPY BIRTHDAY, GEORGE!
Joyous snaps of the birthday boy by his photographer mum
HE can sometimes come across as a serious little chap when thrust into the public spotlight.
But it’s hard not to giggle along with Prince George here as he displays his gappy front teeth and a belly laugh face.
The pictures of him wearing his favourite England jersey were released by Kate and William to mark his sixth birthday today.
The Daily Mail understands they were taken by his mother at Kensington Palace during the England ‘lionesses’ recent World Cup campaign.
The third photograph, also by Kate, was taken on holiday just a few days ago.
Royal officials have not confirmed where the family are, although reports suggest they may have flown with Kate’s family to the exclusive Caribbean island of Mustique.
But George is clearly enjoying soaking up the sun, wearing a pair of blue and white striped swimming shorts over which Kate has thrown a favoured green polo shirt – a snip from High Street store H&M at just £6 – and quickly smoothed his ruffled blond locks.
It seems like only yesterday that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge proudly displayed their first-born on the steps of the Lindo Wing at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington.
The following year the third in line to the throne, then ten months, was dubbed ‘the Republican slayer’ when they took him on tour to Australia and New Zealand and he won the nation over with his chubby little legs and characteristic pout.
Now, as he and his classmates at Thomas’s Battersea, the private prep school he attends in London, prepare to move up and become ‘ leaders’ of the lower school, Kate has proudly offered a glimpse of how big her ‘little Georgie’ has become.
‘The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to share three new photographs of Prince George to mark His Royal Highness’s sixth birthday,’ Kensington Palace said.
George has clearly inherited his father’s love for football – the Duke of Cambridge is president of the FA and an Aston Villa fan.
The England top George is wearing is one of his favourite items of clothing and the youngster can frequently be seen haring around Kensington Palace with a football at his feet.
Friends say that while George is definitely more cautious and sensitive in nature than his younger sister, Charlotte, the little prince is actually a bundle of fun.
By all accounts, he has settled down well at Thomas’s Battersea, where he will be joined by Charlotte in September. William and Kate are familiar figures at the school gate and have thrown themselves into school life, helping out at coffee mornings and cheering George on from the sidelines at sports day.
The couple have been touched by the sensitive way school staff handled his arrival, particularly with the other children and parents.
George, it seems, is growing up into a happy and confident little boy, obsessed – like so many others – by anything to do with the police and emergency services, helicopters, dinosaurs and volcanos.
He has even been known to say that when he grows up he wants to be a pilot like his father (who previously flew with the East Anglia Air Ambulance and Anglesey RAF Search and Rescue team).
It’s something William and Kate are in no hurry to dissuade him from.
While they are acutely aware of their son’s destiny, they are keen not to over burden him with thoughts about the future. Thanks to Kate and no-nonsense nanny Maria Borrallo, George is enjoying a fun-filled, ‘outdoorsy’ upbringing, exploring the gardens at Anmer Hall, their Norfolk county home.
In London, he is a familiar sight scooting through Kensington Gardens with Charlotte at his heels, sporting a cute union jack helmet and a scuffed pair of Crocs.
In short, George is fairly indistinguishable from other rumbustious six-year- olds in his class. Which is exactly how his mother and father want it, for now.
‘Haring around the garden with a football’