In the blink of an eye, Prince George has gone from sassy toddler who can't seem to hide his real feelings from the cameras to a polished preteen. And as he celebrates his 11th birthday on July 22, mom Kate Middleton is continuing her tradition of shooting birthday portraits of each of her children – and the latest of George is making him look particularly grown up. Where has the time gone?!
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The Prince and Princess of Wales shared the new photo on Instagram.
In the black and white photo, Prince George is grinning at the camera while wearing a black suit over a white button-down shirt. Now that he's turned 11, it looks like he's all business!
"Wishing Prince George a very happy 11th birthday today!" read the photo's caption before giving Kate credit for snapping the pic.
George received so many well-wishes in the comments.
Although some commenters were quick to point out George's growing resemblance to dad Prince William, others believe he looks more like his mom's side of the family — namely, Kate's dad, Michael Middleton.
The comments mostly consisted of excited birthday wishes, though.
"Happy 11th Birthday to our beloved Prince George. I can’t believe you’re already 11!" one follower wrote. "I swear it feels like it was just yesterday I was waiting for your arrival. Thank you to the Princess of Wales for this gorgeous picture!"
An expanded version of the photo was shown on Will and Kate's Instagram Stories.
And as People pointed out, we can see in the photo that George is actually accessorizing with what appears to be a friendship bracelet. Did he exchange that with a friend at school? Or did he trade bracelets when he saw Taylor Swift perform at the Eras Tour in London last month?
So many questions.
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Kate has carried on this tradition for all of her children in 2024.
Despite the controversy around Kate's photography and editing skills that arose earlier this year — before the Princess of Wales revealed her diagnosis with cancer — she has continued to show off photos she's taken of her children. Charlotte and Louis turned 9 and 6 just months ago, with new portraits of their own appearing online, too.
Happy birthday, Prince George!
It's certainly been a more challenging year for the family, but hopefully, things are starting to look up for the royals.
It seems like just yesterday that Will and Kate were introducing George to the world outside of the Lindo Wing at St. Mary's Hospital, but before we know it, he'll be a teenager.
