The preteen prince’s past year included a major soccer championship and a selfie with Taylor Swift!
Prince George is ringing in his 11th birthday with a brand new photo.
Kate Middleton and Prince William shared a new portrait to mark their eldest son’s latest milestone on July 22.
The new image, which was taken in Windsor earlier this month by mom Princess Kate, continues a royal tradition. The Prince and Princess of Wales, both 42, have issued portraits of George every year for his birthday since he was a baby, and the practice extended to his two younger siblings, 9-year-old Princess Charlotte and 6-year-old Prince Louis.
The new black-and-white portrait features Prince George looking dapper in a dark blazer and white shirt. Notably, a friendship-style bracelet is visible on his left wrist in the Instagram Stories version—possibly a souvenir from his memorable evening at Taylor Swift’s London concert in June. His parents shared the photo on social media with the heartfelt message: “Wishing Prince George a very happy 11th birthday today!”
Although the tradition continued this year for Charlotte and Louis, there was uncertainty if Prince William and Princess Kate would release new photos surrounding their children’s birthdays this year. In March, Kate released a rare statement after a photo taken by William of her and their children to mark Mother’s Day in the U.K. was removed by multiple news agencies due to suspicions of manipulation. “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused,” she said.
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Both Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte’s most recent birthday portraits were unedited and taken by their mother, who announced in late March that she was undergoing treatment for cancer.
Prince George will likely celebrate his birthday out of the public eye with his family, but he has popped up at a few recent events. In addition to joining the royals at Trooping the Colour, the annual celebration of the British monarch’s birthday, on June 15, the preteen prince attended a Taylor Swift concert with his father and sister (where they snapped a selfie with the pop star!) on June 21 and joined Prince William at the UEFA European Championship soccer game between England and Spain on July 14.
Although Prince George will become monarch one day, his parents want to make the transition into royal duties as easy as possible for him.
“William is trying to normalize it. They’re not in denial, and there’s a lot of thought being given to it, which was not always the case,” Robert Hardman, the author of The Making of a King: King Charles III and the Modern Monarchy, previously told PEOPLE.
“With George, there’s a sense that the priority is that he and his siblings are not put off this, that it’s not scary, that it’s something that they understand and it’s going to be part of their life,” he said. “And there’s a belief to make it as unobtrusive and as normal, if you can call it normal, and as pleasant as possible.”
Hardman added, “Crucially, it’s both of them: William and Catherine.”
