- To mark
Prince George 's 8th birthday,Kensington Palace released a photo of the young royal. - The picture was taken by
Kate Middleton in Norfolk earlier this month. - Prince George is seen sitting atop a Land Rover Defender, a favorite of the late
Prince Philip .
Prince George looks more grown up than ever in a new photograph shared by his mother, the Duchess of Cambridge, to mark the young royal turning eight.
The picture, released by Kensington Palace on Wednesday ahead of his birthday on Thursday, shows the eldest son of Prince William and Kate Middleton smiling as he sits on top of a Land Rover Defender. Prince George wore an orange-striped polo shirt and blue shorts with a backdrop of fields in the photo.
Rather than bring in a professional photographer to document the occasion, Middleton kept to tradition and snapped the photo herself while at their home in Norfolk earlier this month, according to a Kensington Palace press release obtained by Insider.
The model of car the young prince is seen sitting on is one of his late great-grandfather Prince Philip's favorites. The Duke of Edinburgh, who died at the age of 99 on April 9, spent 16 years modifying a Land Rover Defender to be his funeral hearse.
To mark Prince George turning 7 last year, Middleton shared two photographs of him, also taken at their family home in Norfolk, where the family stayed when the UK first went into lockdown in March 2020.
His younger siblings Princess Charlotte, 6, and Prince Louis, 3, had similar photos shared for their birthdays earlier this year. Princess Charlotte, who bears a striking resemblance to her father Prince William, was photographed in Norfolk by Middleton for hers.
Meanwhile, Prince Louis, who turned 3 on April 23, was pictured riding a red bike on his first day at Willcocks Nursery School in London.