Prince George, second in line to the British throne, celebrated his 13th birthday on 22 July with the release of a new official portrait and a behind-the-scenes video by Kensington Palace. The photograph, taken by family photographer Matt Porteous after the Trooping the Colour ceremony in June, shows the prince smiling with his hands in his pockets, wearing a dark suit and open-necked white shirt. A separate video montage, filmed during the family’s Easter holiday in Cornwall, captures him climbing rocks, playing cricket on the beach, and petting his dog alongside his younger brother Prince Louis.

The images were shared on the Prince and Princess of Wales’s social media accounts, accompanied by the message “Happy 13th Birthday, George!” and a note thanking the public for their wishes. The birthday marks George’s formal entry into adolescence and comes weeks before a major educational transition.

In September, the prince is due to begin his secondary schooling at Eton College, the prestigious boys’ boarding school near Windsor Castle. The decision, confirmed by Kensington Palace, follows months of deliberation. Vanity Fair’s royal correspondent Katie Nicholl reported that Prince William was “pushing hard” for Eton, while Catherine, Princess of Wales, initially had reservations and considered her own co-educational alma mater, Marlborough College. Nicholl stated that George passed Eton’s entrance assessments “just like everyone else” and received no special treatment. The school, founded in 1440, educated William and his brother Prince Harry, and its annual fees exceed £65,000.

George, who was born at St Mary’s Hospital in London in 2013, is now second in line to the throne after his father. He has until now attended Lambrook, a private prep school in Berkshire, with his siblings Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. The move to Eton, where he is expected to board, will place him a short drive from the family’s Windsor home. He was last seen publicly at the Wimbledon men’s final on 12 July, and in June he joined his mother on an engagement at RAF Coningsby for Armed Forces Day.