‘Happy 13th Birthday, George!’ Kate and William mark young royal becoming a teenager with new portrait taken at Trooping the Colour as Prince prepares for life at Eton

Prince George has celebrated becoming a teenager with a new official portrait.

It shows the rapidly growing future King George VII wearing a suit after Trooping the Colour last month and was issued by his parents, the Prince and Princess of Wales, on their social media accounts with the message ‘Happy 13th birthday, George!’

It was taken at Kensington Palace by one of the couple’s favourite and most trusted photographers, Matt Porteous, and marks an important new stage in the young royal’s life.

In September he will become a boarder at Eton College, marking the start of his senior school experience.

He will be following in the footsteps of his father, Prince William, who made some of his best friends for life while a student at the school.

It will be the first time since 2019 that George hasn’t attended school with at least one of his two siblings, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

At the same time, William and Catherine are continuing to guide their eldest son along a controlled path to public life, with George undertaking a small but increasing number of official engagements each year.

He was last seen at Wimbledon earlier this month with his family but is unlikely to be seen in public again until he starts school in the autumn. 

George, who is the eldest of the Wales children with younger siblings Charlotte, 11, and Louis, eight, was first introduced to the world when his mother and William stepped out of the Lindo Wing with him in their arms.

Dressed in a summery powder blue frock, Catherine glowed as she and William revealed their first child, George Alexander Louis, to the world.

Ahead of his 13th birthday, royal expert Robert Jobson told the Daily Mail that Prince George’s time at Eton will be worlds away from his father’s experiences because of his ‘settled’ life at home. 

‘The difference is everything,’ Mr Jobson said. ‘William walked into Eton [at the age of 14] carrying his parents’ marital war. George walks in from a settled home.’ 

Mr Jobson said that the future King and Queen have done everything and more to support their eldest son in the move, as George prepares for a new academic era.

‘He asked them if he could board weekly at Lambrook. They agreed. It helped him grow, to be part of a collective,’ the expert said.

‘He is smart. He loves history. Standing before Henry VIII’s armour last October, his father said it plainly. “George, my son, is way better in history than I am, and I have to check with him now on my dates.”

‘He plays football and hockey. Hockey is his mother’s game. He supports Aston Villa, like his dad. Happy to cheer and punch the air in public.

‘He has not been spared pain. He watched his mother fight and beat cancer. He watched his grandfather live with it. He has emerged steadier.

‘Eton will be a challenge, but being close to home, in the shadow of Windsor Castle will help.

‘As he steps out in his tailcoat, false collar, he will look a picture.

‘But the environment will protect him like it did his father who thrived there.

‘Then time. A great deal of it, let us hope, for George’s sake.’

George’s birthday comes after his last public outing to the Wimbledon finals along with his parents and sister Charlotte. 

The siblings won the hearts of royal fans as they dashed out of the Royal Box at Centre Court to grab sunhats when temperatures in London rose to 29C on the final day of the Championships. 

Photos showed George using a handheld fan as he watched Jannik Sinner defeat Alexander Zverev in the final match of the tournament. 

After settling in, it appeared the scorching heat had affected the young royal, with George pictured using a white portable fan similar to the one used by his mother on the previous day for the women’s final. 

The young prince looked rosy-cheeked as he kept himself cool and hydrated during the incredibly warm weather. 

It was a fun-filled day for George and Charlotte, who were spotted laughing and chatting with each other while wearing hats and sunglasses – while the youngest Wales child, Louis, who turned eight earlier this year, was notably absent. 

Prince George’s 12th birthday portrait was taken by royal photographer Josh Shinner in Norfolk. 

In the picture, George is dressed in a white checked shirt layered with a khaki gilet, as he leans over a wooden gate and smiles for the camera. 

The year before that, Kensington Palace shared a black-and-white photo of George, looking smart in a suit, when he turned 11.