Update: July 22, 2019, at 8:30 a.m.: Prince George is officially six years old today. While the future king is reportedly on vacation with his family in Mustique, his royal relatives took to social media to celebrate his big day.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry wrote a sweet note in the comments of one of the new photos the palace releases, complete with emojis. "Happy Birthday 🎂🎈! Wishing you a very special day and lots of love!" the couple wrote via their @SussexRoyal account.
The queen's official Instagram also posted the images (taken by George's mom, Kate Middleton). "Happy Birthday to Prince George who is six years old today. 🎂," the caption read. "To honour the occasion The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have shared three new photographs of the Prince. The photographs were taken by The Duchess of Cambridge, two of which were taken in the garden at Kensington Palace and another whilst on holiday."
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Grandpa, aka Prince Charles, echoed the sentiments with a post on the Clarence House Instagram. "A very Happy Birthday to Prince George, who turns six today. 🎂"
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Original post: Prince George, the third in line to the British throne, turns six tomorrow—and to mark the occasion, Kensington Palace has released new portraits of the little princeling. The trio of pics first features George smiling in an English soccer jersey; in the second, he's adorably rumpled in a polo shirt; and in the third, he's laughing delightedly in full-on kid mode.
The portraits were once again taken by his mother, the Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton, who's frequently behind the lens for the adorable pics of the junior Cambridges the palace releases. Taken by Middleton or not, annual birthday portraits of the royal children are something of a thing: Kensington Palace also shared new photos in May of his sister, Princess Charlotte, photographed by Middleton for her fourth birthday, as well as portraits of George for his fifth birthday last year.
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As for what Prince George himself will be doing to celebrate, there are conflicting reports. The Sun reported on Sunday (July 21), per an anonymous source, that little George specifically asked to keep it low-key with a down-to-earth family gathering, likely taking place at Anmer Hall in Norfolk. (George will be spending the majority of his summer break from school there.) The source also says that while the almost-six-year-old George has made friends at school in London and that there's "talk" of a birthday gathering with them, quite a few of them will be off on summer vacations of their own, so it's difficult to get everyone together for a celebration.
However, The Sun also reported last Thursday (July 18) that it's possible the prince might have jetted off to Mustique once again for his birthday. The Cambridges are reportedly going there with dates that could include George's birthday tomorrow—and there's precedent: It's where they went for his fifth birthday last year. We'll have to wait and see which of these extremely different plans Prince George opted for.
Although his birthday isn't until tomorrow, he might already have had a few early birthday presents come his way: The Sun also reports that Queen Elizabeth II, his grandmother, leaves little presents at the foot of his bed whenever he stays with her. Adorable, right? Happy sixth birthday, Prince George!
