Today is Prince George’s 12th birthday. Happy birthday to him. Reportedly, George is on vacation with his family and his Middleton grandparents in Greece. They’re possibly sailing around on a private yacht, having flown to Greece on a private plane. But George’s parents still have extensive staff, and so someone at Kensington Palace posted this year’s birthday portrait of George. KP won’t let the Princess of Wales photograph the heir anymore, right? Not after last year’s manipulated-photo catastrophe. So they organized a photoshoot with Josh Shinner, who has been taking a lot of photos of the Wales family in the past year.
Speaking of the Wales family’s luxury vacation in Greece, there’s a renewed conversation these days about whether George and his father should continue to fly on the same private plane/helicopter. Prince William and George are the next two people in the line of succession, and there are “protocols” about air travel. Protocols which William has mostly ignored for years.
As Prince George turns 12 today, his parents have been urged to take care to ensure the safety of the future king. A former pilot of the royal helicopters has confirmed that George’s father, Prince William, stopped travelling with the then-Prince Charles when he was 12.
Talking about Charles, Princess Diana and their sons, former pilot Graham Laurie said: ‘Interestingly, we flew all four – the Prince, the Princess, Prince William and Prince Harry, up until Prince William was 12 years old. After that, he had to have a separate aircraft and we could only fly all four together when they were young with the written permission of Her Majesty. When William became 12, he would fly normally in a 125 from Northolt and we would fly the 146 out with the other three on.’
Royal author Robert Jobson reported that the King had raised objections to William, a qualified helicopter pilot, flying the family to Norfolk – where they have a holiday home, Anmer Hall ‘One recent source of disagreement is William’s stubborn refusal to take his father’s advice on safeguarding the succession,’ he wrote in Catherine, the Princess of Wales: A Biography of the Future Queen, published in 2024. ‘Earlier this year, the King had raised concerns with his son about the wisdom of William using his helicopter to fly his entire family around the country.’
A friend of William and Catherine tells me: ‘William is a skilled pilot and loves flying but George must travel separately now.’ A Kensington Palace spokesman tells me: ‘We don’t comment on travel.’
I wonder how this works for a family obsessed with flying privately. Is William just going to chopper himself around and make Kate travel with the kids separately? Probably.
KP also released a short video with all three kids for George’s birthday.
12 today! 🎉 pic.twitter.com/UqYj4Y97QM
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) July 22, 2025
Happy 12th Birthday to Prince George! 🎂
📸Josh Shinner pic.twitter.com/L7hAZXOkDw— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) July 22, 2025
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images and Josh Shinner/Kensington Palace.
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- Paris, FRANCE – Prince William and his son, Prince George, enjoy the thrilling first leg of the Champions League at Parc des Princes in Paris. The royal duo shares a rare public outing at the high-profile match between PSG and Aston Villa. Pictured: Prince William, Prince George BACKGRID USA 9 APRIL 2025 BYLINE MUST READ: Best Image / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- London, UNITED KINGDOM – Members of the British Royal Family watch a military procession marking the 80th anniversary of VE Day, and in honour of those who served during the Second World War on May 5, 2025 Pictured: Prince George, Prince Louis, William, Prince of Wales BACKGRID USA 5 MAY 2025 BYLINE MUST READ: Zak Hussein / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Trooping the Colour 2025 ceremony, marking the monarch’s official birthday Featuring: Prince William of Wales, Catherine Princess of Wales, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis Where: London, United Kingdom When: 14 Jun 2025 Credit: Cover Images
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- Royals attend day fourteen of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince William, Princess Charlotte, Prince George Where: London, United Kingdom When: 13 Jul 2025 Credit: Andrew Matthews/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- Royals attend day fourteen of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club Featuring: Prince William, Prince George Where: London, United Kingdom When: 13 Jul 2025 Credit: Andrew Matthews/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
Happy birthday to the Middleton heir! No doubt he’s enjoying the Greek islands with his grandparents away from the peasants.
Yes, they should be travelling separately but Willy doesn’t like to be told what to do, so any consequences of travel is on him.
Also, gotta love this from Jabba the Hutt:
“where they have a holiday home, Anmer Hall”
😂 slight burn there Jabba. Anmer was supposed to be their forever family home with 100 kitchens for Lazy. Oops.
Jonson was one of the very few RR to write about he was explicitly told by KP and BP the renovations to KP for the then-Cambridges were because it was their “forever home”‘and accuse them of misleading the public. Even a broken clock is right twice a day I suppose.
Too many homes. 😏
I find it deeply callous that the concern is for the next two in line when actually the next FOUR in line are traveling together.
I’m sorry I got to the part where Peg was called a “skilled pilot” and burst out in laughter. Is that why he was only a co-pilot for air ambulance when he did bother to show up for a shift? It’s a nice picture of George who looks like Cant’s father.
I wondered about that too. William could only co pilot with the made to order air ambulance work with the shift skipping
Jan. As I understand it, if Harry turned it down Archie would automatically become King and couldn’t abdicate until he was 18, then Lilibet would become Queen and could abdicate on her 18th, then Andrew would get the job, and I suspect he would hang on to it.
I actually thought he was only able to copilot. Is he the one actually flying. Lordy. Sorry but that really would put the succession at risk.
Would that be queen beatrice? She seems up for it/ not so bad. Im certain harry would turn it down. Could he turn it down for his whole family?
For me it was that line but then also the line about “flying HIS helicopter around the country.” Taxpayer funded helicopter says what???
Same photoshoot as Louis ‘s birthday and father’s day. Can’t believe they never even change their clothes for picture day.
Anyway, that’s one of the best photos of George I think.
The laughter in that video sounds fake, wouldn’t be surprised if they added it themselves.
yeah, its a cute picture of him.
definitely one photoshoot in the spring that they’re using for these releases. not a bad idea but interesting they didn’t use one for Charlotte’s bday.
at least its not a pic from their greek vacation lol.
I am just happy that they’ve stopped pretending that keen is some sort of photography genius.
Charlotte should have gotten the formal portraits like her brothers did.
She probably did, but Kate or herself liked the camo pic better, I guess.
When my children were under 18, I never flew with my husband just in case of an accident the children would have one parent.. so it always surprised me that WanK flew as a family.
Hope George enjoys his birthday while vacationing on a yacht in Greece. The taxpayers who have sewage on their beaches must be thrilled they could pay for his celebration.
My parents did the same thing and it made a very big impression on me. I definitely try to do that as well, though when we are traveling as a family, we are all flying together because if we go, we go together. Dark, but there it is.
The few times we flew, my mom flew with me and my little sister, and my dad with my brother for the same reason.
And yet the statistics show, year after year, that there are more traffic deaths than airplane deaths & families travel together by car all the time.
I guess William couldn’t be the one to fly separately. If something happened to the other aircraft taking out all of the kids, that would mean Harry was again next in line. Surely if someone reminded Willy of that he’d sort out his travel arrangements.
Otherwise happy birthday to the Prince. No shade, he’s 12.
William would have time to find another woman and have more children, if only to keep Harry out, thereby doing Harry a favour. Ironic.
Nice picture. Find it intriguing that Kate stop being the family photographer. But, has anyone noticed that Charlotte never had a professional photo released liked the boys this year. She didn’t even get a video. It was a random photo from Kate’s phone.
I believe Kate took the photo of Charlotte this year and the rest were taken by Josh Shinner.
What was interesting about that choice, is it showed yet another (domestic) vacation the Wales’ took this year that nobody would have known about if they had just released a portrait from this shoot.
But it’s the Wales so nobody will talk about all their holidays 🤷🏻♀️
The friend of the keens,quoted must be knauf with praise for his employer
Happy birth day, Prince George! I hope it was a happy one.
The children remain very cute but my only thought when i see them is good luck to them with those parents.
I honestly always wish those kids the best given the home environment we know they’re growing up in. Hope it’s a happy birthday.
But honestly, poor George, what a bizarre and archaic thing to be raised only to be a king. And more likely in the same position as Charles, to be waiting 4+ decades of his adult life (if it even happens in the end).
See I think there’s no reason George can’t have a career for decades before he ascends the throne. Get an education and work in a field he enjoys and retire then take on the second career in the monarchy. Being listless for decades is soul destroying as we have seen now for generations
Even if Willy is a skilled pilot (which is doubtful), he is volatile and erratic. He doesn’t have the calm, steady temperament a pilot should possess. He shouldn’t pilot anyone, even his incandescent self. He is making himself and his kids vulnerable on many levels, especially if the government, men in grey and aristocrats decide he won’t be a suitable king. He isn’t as superior and invulnerable as he believes. Willy the helicopter pilot reminds me of JFK, Jr the Piper Saratoga pilot. Fly separate and don’t pilot yourself.
Maybe the Waleses take two private jets and we just don’t know about it. That would be great for the environment.
That video is weird overexposed fan service for weirdos. Barely a step above tik tok.
Cute pic. Happy Birthday George!
Interesting to me is that his and Louis’ pic (along with the Father’s Day pic) all came from the same day/photoshoot but Charlotte’s didn’t. Also her and George got a video for their birthdays but Charlotte didn’t. Probably because it was all done on that one day. But makes me wonder why they didn’t film anything for her when she was clearly there to begin with.
That photo should be a 60 year old.
Wtf were they thinking? How absurd for a 12 year old. Sad for poor George to look so unfortunate. Sorry George that your parents are morons. 60 year old George’s birthday. Sadness. Gentlemen Farmer 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Happy birthday to Prince George! Nice picture but the video seemed staged…anyway, they couldn’t release a photo from their current vacations, that’s why they posted a picture of George at amner, creating the illusion that they spend their time there now…on another note, is it my idea or the engagement on their social media is relatively low even for their children now?
Well at least this is George on British soil. There’s something unnerving about the heir to the BRITISH throne celebrating his 12th birthday on some yacht around the Greek Islands.
If yacht girl wanted such a holiday, she could have petitioned for Britannia to return to service.
As is, the yacht looks to be the Opera, and owned by the foreign minister of the UAE who also owns a private jet. Now what quid pro quo arrangements has Willy made with UAE? Is this to get back at Qatar?
Either way, it doesn’t look good. The two BRITISH HEIRS are being hosted by a foreign power.
https://www.superyachtfan.com/yacht/opera/owner/
Wonder how many bags of cash come with that plane ✈️ and yacht 🛥️ holiday? Wank following in the Windsor family tradition of corruption is truly disgusting.
@Hypocrisy the Middletons too. They have honed the grift.
He is dressed like that guy, who presents that BBC about people looking for rural homes.
Is this how 12 year olds or whatever he is turning are dressing in Britain?
It’s Lazy’s cosplay of a country gentleman. All hat, no cattle.
He looks like a 60 year old. It’s shameful to do that to a child.
He’s not a 60 plus on a rural TV show. Wtaf were these idiots thinking? How embarrassing. It’s so awful, it’s just funny.
It really is that gentleman farmer vibe. It’s a thing. Lots of people from a certain set are into that look. The button up with a vest over it. For example, Jeremey Clarksen is wearing essentially the exact same thing in the promo for the second season of his farm show. Except his vest is blue and not green. Am I misremembering or did William say George loves that show? William has also prob worn the exact same thing when he does his farm duchy visits. Anyways happy bday to him. Nice smile.
This is the same fake fence and backdrop from school picture day in 1981 courtesy Olan Mills
Eh. Contrarian view here but having had to look at safety data of car vs airplanes for a similar reason, they are much safer flying together than when they get in a car together. The drive from the airport to the yacht was riskier.
Back when QEII was alive i understood her concerns since she grew up in an era where flying was riskier. Just not the case now.
It’s more the helicopters that are the true risk here. William uses them a lot, basically as a taxi, and crashes like what happened to Koby Bryant are quite possible.
I agree that regular flights on planes are generally much safer.
Ever since Kobe’s tragic death, I’ve steered clear of helicopters. The way they can malfunction at any given time is frightening. I guess the royals don’t see it that way, which is why they use them as a taxi service.
Driving probably not that risky since they have outriders etc when they’re driven anyway.
Wonder when/if it’ll occur to Willy that this was the age his little brother was when their mother passed… and they hardly gave him the support he needed. Not to mention ripping into said brother all day everyday nowadays as well…
That would require thoughtfulness, a characteristic absent in William.
Happy birthday to George.
He’s a cute lad.
What a life he’s growing up into. I feel sorry for him and C and L.
I agree, I feel particularly sorry for George, he seems a shy lad, pity Charlotte was born second, I think she would enjoy it more.
Yes, he always looks so worried and self conscious in public. It would be a nightmare job if you’re shy or introverted. I’m both so I really feel for him.
Charlotte is much more self assured.
I’m finding it interesting that this argument is being used in order to highlight the near constant use of helicopters by the Wales family, you know the champions of the natural world, who are far too eager to tell everyone else how to act while doing the exact opposite themselves.
Private Eye stated £2.75 million for RF travel costs and specially mentioned Chuck was happy to pay for family use of helicopters. They added that he was “scrupulous” to charge FO for the costs of Junior going to Notre Dame and then Edward to Carter funeral? Is that legitimate to bill FO for travel abroad if it is at their request? Is the SG £2.75 million only for UK travel?
I read the headline as his portrait was taken by “Jannik Sinner” and it gave me a giggle.
I think it’s a very cute picture, but the comments in the DM are interesting. Many are very critical of the Keens and their Greek island vacation. It used to be that photos of these kids would garner only positive commentary. Times are changing….
I agree with other comments that George doesn’t look comfortable in front of a camera and his exposure is only going to get worse
Wow! Even the kids have to wear slim-cut jeans like mom! And has nobody noticed that Charlotte’s outgrown her clothes??