Beaming Prince George photographed by Kate for his official birthday picture

Prince George is pictured smiling for the camera on a UK beach in a photograph released to mark his ninth birthday.

Behind the lens was his mother the Duchess of Cambridge who is well known for taking pictures of her children to mark their milestones.

Her son is shown beaming earlier this month while wearing a polo-style top with a sandy shoreline and water behind him.

The duchess is a keen amateur photographer, who in 2017 accepted a lifetime honorary membership of the Royal Photographic Society which recognised her “talent and enthusiasm”.

The young royal and future king turns nine on Friday and according to reports will start at Lambrook School in Ascot near Windsor Castle later this year.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are rumoured to be planning a move to Berkshire to be close to their son’s new school and the Queen.

George has had an eventful few months. appearing with his siblings Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis during the extended June bank holiday weekend that celebrated the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

The young royals were seen on Buckingham Palace’s balcony after the Trooping the Colour ceremony when they watched the fly-past of aircraft, then sat in the royal box with their parents during the Platinum Jubilee Pageant.

William and Kate also took their son to the men’s Wimbledon tennis final where he held the trophy won by Novak Djokovic.

Before the final the couple and their son greeted ball boys and girls as well as military personnel in the Millennium building.

When asked about the young prince coming to Wimbledon, Kate said to her son: “Is this your first time? It is, isn’t it?” to which he replied: “Yes.”

George was also asked who he was going to support and appeared too shy to answer so William looked at him and whispered “Djokovic” before adding: “We’ll see how long it lasts. He’ll support the winner.”

Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge was born in the private Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, London at 4.24pm on July 22 2013, weighing 8lb 6oz.

He made his public debut in front of the world’s media on the hospital steps one day later, wrapped in a white merino wool shawl, cradled in his mother’s arms.

A great-grandchild to the Queen, he will be the 43rd monarch since William the Conqueror obtained the crown of England if, as expected, he follows the reigns of his grandfather, the Prince of Wales, and then his father, William.