Prince George has become a teenager, with his family releasing a new portrait to mark his 13th birthday. The photograph, taken by Matt Porteous just after Trooping the Colour last month, shows the Prince smiling at Kensington Palace, accompanied by the message: "Happy 13th Birthday, George!"
Born at 4.24pm on July 22, 2013, in the private Lindo Wing at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, London, he was styled His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge and third in line to the throne. In the intervening years, he has been joined by siblings Princess Charlotte, now 11, and Prince Louis, eight, and has moved up to second in line.
“Prince George celebrates 13th birthday with new portrait as he prepares to start at Eton College in September.”
As he turns 13, Prince George is preparing for a new chapter. Having completed four happy years at Lambrook, his prep school in Berkshire, on September 8 he will join some 260 new boys in “F-Block” – Year 9 – at Eton College. It will be a different life: he will live away from home for the first time, though the school is just a 10-minute drive from the family home in Windsor. Like other boys, he will have his own private room and will probably be given a “brick phone” to stay in touch with his family.
The Prince and Princess of Wales have gradually introduced their elder son to royal duties while ensuring he enjoys a normal childhood out of the public eye. He was last seen in public alongside his parents and sister at Wimbledon, where he watched the men’s singles final and was introduced to new British star Arthur Fery. Last month, the second in line – said to be obsessed with planes and having taken flying lessons – joined his mother at RAF Coningsby to mark Armed Forces Day, learning about the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. He was also pictured with his family during Trooping the Colour and at the base of Snowdon, following the Princess’s successful completion of the Three Peaks Challenge.
Prince George is often described as a thoughtful, somewhat shy boy who enjoys many sports and is particularly good at art. Last year, Prince William reflected on the different characters of his children during a visit to the Women’s Institute in Sunningdale, Berkshire, but the full details of his remarks were not recorded in the available sources.
Coinciding with George’s birthday, Count Felix of Monpezat is celebrating his 24th birthday today. The younger son of Prince Joachim and his first wife, Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg, he is also the grandson of Denmark’s former monarch, Queen Margrethe II. Count Felix was born on July 22, 2002. He, along with his brother Count Nikolai and their half-siblings Count Henrik and Countess Athena, were all removed from their royal and HRH titles in 2023. They are now styled as Count or Countess of Monpezat, reflecting hereditary titles within Danish nobility, while maintaining their positions in the line of succession. In 2023, Queen Margrethe II issued a statement acknowledging she “underestimated” the impact the decision would have, saying: “It is my duty and my wish as Queen to ensure that the monarchy continues to shape itself in keeping with the times... I have made my decision as Queen, mother and grandmother, but as a mother and grandmother I have underestimated how much my youngest son and his family feel affected.”
Prince George, by contrast, has been described by former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond as “much luckier than his dad or grandfather. He’s entering his notoriously tricky teenage years with the solid grounding of a very happy childhood, brought up by parents who adore one another and their children. Unlike Charles and William, he was not sent away to boarding school when he was eight. Instead he’s enjoyed going to a day school with his sister and brother and the rough and tumble of family life at home.”
Bond recalled that around the time of William’s 13th birthday, Diana, Princess of Wales, told her that William felt the “burden of kingship” weighed heavily on his shoulders. Diana said he complained that people were already treating him as if he were king, but she was confident he would learn to handle it. “William is alright,” she said, adding “the country is very lucky to have William.” George, however, has had to cope with the trauma of his mother’s shock cancer diagnosis and the effects of her treatment – a burden his father did not face at the same age.
As Prince George steps into his teenage years, he does so with a secure family base and the prospect of a new school, even as the weight of his future role as monarch begins to settle on his shoulders. How he navigates this transition will be watched closely – but for now, the smiling boy in the photograph remains, briefly, just a 13-year-old.
