Prince George is celebrating his 12th birthday today and a new photograph of the future king has been released to mark the occasion.
The picture was taken earlier this year by John Shinner in Norfolk.
The Prince and Princess of Wales shared the new photograph on social media, accompanied by the caption: "Happy 12th Birthday to Prince George!"
Prince George's 12th birthday is particularly significant as a longstanding Royal Family rule looks set to come into place.
The future king may now be separated from Prince William when using certain forms of transport.
Prince George is celebrating his 12th birthday today and a new photograph of the future king has been released to mark the occasion.
George is second in line to the throne while Prince William is first in the Royal Family's line of succession.
There is a rule in place that limits which royals can travel together in the same plane, with William travelling on a different plane from Charles once he turned 12 in 1994.
Previously, Prince William, Prince George and Princess Charlotte could all travel together, but that may change now that George has turned 12.
The rule is in place to help secure the heirs to the throne and it can be broken with the monarch's permission, but it is discouraged since, in the event of a crash, the future of the monarchy would be immediately unstable.
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|Prince George's 12th birthday is particularly significant as a longstanding Royal Family rule looks set to come into place.
Royal commentator Robert Jobson told GB News during a 2024 interview: "The fact that the King has raised it before George was 12, I think, is important.
"When you've had a cancer diagnosis like the King has had and the treatment he's had, he's obviously thinking about his own mortality and the future of the monarchy.
"And that involves Prince George very much so, left, right and centre. So I think that it's quite important."
Jobson added that Princess Kate and Prince William could be "frustrated" with the royal rule that George would have to travel separately from his father and potentially his younger siblings.
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He said: "I can understand why there was frustration because if you're going to separately get one child to take a different route, it can be quite awkward if you're going on holidays and things like that.
"I'm not so sure that if you're going on a commercial flight or something like that, it would be so necessary.
"But helicopters do tend to be the focus. Mind you, we've had a few billionaires, haven't we, that have crashed in helicopters who must have thought with their wealth and experienced pilots and wonderful helicopters that they were indestructible, but they weren't.
"So I do think that it's just a question of making sure that the monarchy and the line of succession is safe."
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|George is second in line to the throne while Prince William is first in the Royal Family's line of succession.
It may be decided that William is the one to fly on his own, and George travels with his mother and siblings.
Another option is that William travels with either Charlotte or Louis, or both of them, while George travels with Princess Kate.
Three royals have previously died in plane crashes, including Prince Philip's sister, Princess Cecilie in 1937, the late Queen's uncle, Prince George, Duke of Kent in 1942 and her cousin, Prince William of Gloucester in 1972.