See Princess Charlotte’s 9th Birthday Portrait Taken by Mom Kate Middleton

Princess Charlotte
Getty Images

It seems like we were just awaiting the arrival of Kate Middleton and Prince William’s first (and only) daughter, but somehow, she’s already so grown up. On Thursday, Kensington Palace shared a new portrait of Princess Charlotte in honor of her ninth birthday, and she looks so grown up. Even though this year has been nothing like a normal one for the royals, there is one birthday tradition that they have continued through it all.

 

The new photo appeared on Will and Kate’s Instagram account.

The royals shared the new photo on May 2, noting that — as per usual — this picture had been snapped by the birthday girl’s mom, Kate.

“Happy 9th Birthday, Princess Charlotte! Thank you for all of the kind messages today.”

Charlotte was met with many birthday wishes in the comments.

In fact, multiple people even pointed out that the older Charlotte gets, the stronger the resemblance to her late great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, becomes.

“Happy birthday dear Princess Charlotte. Hope you have the wonderful day you deserve. Looking more and more like Great Granny each day,” one person wrote.

Another commenter shared, “Happy birthday Princess Charlotte! She is growing up so quickly and so beautifully.”

Her birthday comes less than a month after her younger brother’s.

When Prince Louis turned 6 on April 23, a new, updated portrait of him that had been taken by Kate was shared on Instagram, too. In the photo, Louis was grinning at the camera, wearing a plaid shirt and blue shorts.

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Kate’s photo skills have been at the center of controversy.

After people questioned the legitimacy of a photo that Kate shared of herself with her children taken by Prince William, she was forced to explain that she had attempted to photoshop the picture herself.

“Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day,” she wrote at the time.

The family has a lot to celebrate, even during a tough time.

Though Kate is undergoing treatment for cancer found during a planned abdominal surgery, the royals have still been sharing the happy moments in between. And just this week, it’s included both Charlotte’s birthday and Will and Kate’s 13th wedding anniversary.

We hope the birthday girl had a great day!