Kensington Palace Just Released Portraits Of Prince George For His 6th Birthday

Prince George is growing up way too fast

Prince George just turned 6! Happy birthday to one of our favorite royal kids. It’s a part of palace tradition that royals have portraits taken and released to the public on their birthdays, and George is no exception, so prepare yourself for incoming cuteness, because his portraits show a sweet, perfect prince who is clearly growing up way too fast.

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Seriously, just look at that gap-toothed smile. Wasn’t this kid born like, last year? It feels like it. If there’s anything these photos prove, it’s that time truly flies.

Also, we naturally have to point out that little George is pretty much a dead ringer for his dad, Prince William. It’s almost too cute to handle.

George’s birthday photos were released on the Kensington Palace Instagram account, where a sweet message accompanied them.

“Happy Birthday Prince George! The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to share new photographs of Prince George to mark His Royal Highness’s sixth birthday,” it read. “This photograph was taken recently in the garden of their home at Kensington Palace by The Duchess of Cambridge. Thank you everyone for all your lovely messages!”

While it’s traditional to have a famed photographer take official portraits of members of the royal family, even children, lately Duchess Kate has been bucking that tradition and taking her kids’ photos herself. The result is a lot of adorable, natural portraits of the kids at home being themselves, and we’re grateful to get a more candid glimpse into palace life, rather than a staged and posed photograph.

This is the first glimpse of Prince George we’ve gotten since photos from a garden event were released a few months ago, and we first realized just how big he’s getting. In those photos, he was playing with Charlotte in the charity garden spearheaded by Duchess Kate, and they looked like a perfect picture of loving siblings.

Before that, it was George’s preschool photos we were obsessing over. While he was one adorable toddler, seeing him start to noticeably grow up is hitting us right in the feels. Keep these photos coming, Kate.

Now, let’s just see how long it takes for George’s new portraits to end up on Gary Janetti’s hilarious parody Instagram account.

Happy birthday, George!