Prince Louis Looks So Grown Up At The Beach In New 4th Birthday Photos

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Prince Louis is ready to celebrate his fourth birthday, right on the heels of his great grandmother Queen Elizabeth‘s 96th! The prince was seen frolicking on the beach in photographs taken and posted to social media by his mother Kate Middleton on April 22, a day ahead of the occasion. In the photos, the third child and second son of Kate and Prince William looked quite grown up, smiling and holding a red ball in one shot and running on the beach in another.

He wore a gray sweater emblazoned with a colorful row of stars, along with turquoise shorts, and went barefoot in the joyous snaps. It’s impossible not to notice Louis’ strong resemblance to brother Prince George and Sister Princess Charlotte as he begins to look older.  “4 years old tomorrow!” the caption reads. The two photos were posted to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s official Twitter and Instagram accounts. They are credited to his mother, “The Duchess.”

Kate has made a tradition of posting adorable photos of her children on special occasions, and the results are always nothing short of adorable. On Louis’ third birthday back in 2021, Kate posted a photo celebrating both his birthday, and his first day of nursery, as he beamed on a red bike in an adorable navy-blue school outfit. “Taken earlier this week by The Duchess before he left for his first day of nursery, The Duke and Duchess are pleased to share a new image of Prince Louis,” the caption read, alongside an emoji of a red balloon.

Kate tends to take relaxed photographs of her children that capture their personalities perfectly. Ahead of Princess Charlotte’s fourth birthday in May of 2019, the Duchess took to Instagram to post a now iconic photo of her daughter wearing a pretty blue dress and sneakers while sitting happily in the grass. “The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to share three new photographs of Princess Charlotte ahead of her fourth birthday,” the post, dated May 1, 2019, reads. “The photographs were taken in April by The Duchess at Kensington Palace and at their home in Norfolk.”

Kate’s talent for photography has made the couple’s Instagram and Twitter accounts especially vibrant. When announcing her Hold Still project in March of 2021, Kate reflecting on the “power of photography” in documenting people’s lives. “Through Hold Still, I wanted to use the power of photography to create a lasting record of what we were all experiencing – to capture individuals’ stories and document significant moments for families and communities as we lived through the pandemic,” she captioned a photo of herself holding a camera, dated March 28, 2021.