New photograph of smiling Princess Charlotte released to mark ninth birthday
A new photograph of Princess Charlotte, taken by her mother Kate, has been released to celebrate the royal's ninth birthday today.
Charlotte is shown with a beaming smile as she casually poses next to a clematis plant with pink petals.
A post on the Prince and Princess of Wales official X account said: “Happy 9th Birthday, Princess Charlotte! Thank you for all of the kind messages today.”
Third in line to the throne Charlotte attends the co-educational private Lambrook School near Ascot in Berkshire, and loves dancing, especially ballet and tap.
She and her siblings, Princes George and Louis, have been the focus for the William and Kate as the princess receives treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer.
Kate said in her video message to the nation announcing her diagnosis that she and William “have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family”.
William recently revealed what tickles his daughter, during a visit to a school in the West Midlands where he was asked to contribute a “dad joke” to a student radio broadcast.
In his pre-recorded piece William told the listeners: “I think what I’ll do, is I’ll say a joke which is Charlotte’s favourite joke at the moment, she keeps telling me.”
William said “Knock Knock” and when the pupils said “who’s there” the royal replied “Interrupting cow” and as the group tried to say “interrupting cow who?” he made them laugh by saying “Mooo”.
Charlotte has a reputation for being feisty compared with her older brother George, and Kate has described the princess as “the one in charge”.
The youngster was spotted reminding George to bow to the coffin of their late great-grandmother the Queen at her state funeral, and she kept Louis in check during a Trooping the Colour by placing her hand over his hand to calm his over-enthusiastic waving to the crowds from the carriage.
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