(PHOTO) Prince George Turns 13 as Royal Family Releases New Portrait Ahead of His September Move to College

LONDON — Prince George, the eldest child of Prince William and Kate, the Princess of Wales, turned 13 on Wednesday, marking his entry into the teenage years with a new official portrait released by Kensington Palace.

George, who is second in line to the British throne behind his father, was born at London's St Mary's Hospital on July 22, 2013. His birth drew global attention at the time given his position as the first child of William and Kate and his place in the royal line of succession.

A new portrait, and a striking resemblance

The portrait released to mark George's 13th birthday shows him smiling softly while standing on a set of steps in front of a window, dressed in a simple black suit paired with a white button-up shirt worn without a tie, his hands tucked into his pockets. His strawberry blond hair is styled in a manner widely noted by royal watchers as reminiscent of Prince William's own look from the 1990s.

The image continues a tradition the family has maintained since George was an infant, releasing a new official portrait each year to mark his birthday. The same custom has since extended to his younger siblings, 11-year-old Princess Charlotte and 8-year-old Prince Louis, both of whom also receive newly released portraits on their own birthdays.

A more visible role in recent months

As George has gotten older, he has increasingly stepped into public engagements alongside his parents, reflecting both his age and his long-term role as a future monarch. In June, Kensington Palace shared that Kate and George carried out a joint royal engagement together at RAF Coningsby, a Royal Air Force base, in recognition of Armed Forces Day. Several months earlier, in December, George joined William at the Passage, a London-based charity that supports people experiencing homelessness, helping the organization prepare its annual Christmas lunch.

George was most recently seen in public on July 12, when he attended the men's singles final at Wimbledon alongside his parents and Princess Charlotte.

Family friends and royal commentators have noted that George's growing height has become increasingly apparent in recent appearances; at last month's RAF Coningsby engagement, he stood at nearly the same height as his mother, who is 5-foot-9.

Heading to Eton this fall

The coming school year marks another significant milestone for George. In September, he is set to begin attending Eton College, the prestigious all-boys boarding school located near Windsor Castle that both his father and uncle, Prince Harry, attended before him. Unlike his current school, George is expected to board at Eton, as the institution does not offer a day-student option.

For the past several years, George has lived at home with his family while attending Lambrook School, a preparatory school in Berkshire, alongside his younger siblings. Eton, like Lambrook, sits close to the Wales family's home, roughly a 15-minute drive away, which royal watchers have noted may help ease the transition even as George moves into boarding life for the first time.

William's approach to raising his children amid royal life

Prince William has spoken publicly in the past about the balance he and Kate try to strike between preparing their children for eventual royal duties and allowing them ordinary childhood experiences. In a November interview, William addressed the question of when George might be given a smartphone, drawing a distinction between phones generally and internet access specifically.

"When George moves on to secondary school, then maybe he will have a phone then that has no internet access," William said. "It's the internet access that I have a problem with. I think children can access too much stuff they don't need to see online." He added that a more basic phone would be acceptable in the meantime, saying, "Having a phone and text message, the old sort of brick phone as they call them, I think that's fine."

A tradition of yearly portraits

The annual birthday portrait tradition has become one of the most closely watched customs associated with the Wales children, offering the public a yearly glimpse of how George, Charlotte and Louis have grown. Kate, an accomplished amateur photographer, has taken several of the portraits herself over the years, including past images marking George's earlier birthdays.

Princess Charlotte's own portrait, released for her 11th birthday in May, showed her smiling in a field of flowers, a portrait royal commentators noted reflected a similarly grown-up presentation to her brother's latest photo.

With George now a teenager and preparing to begin boarding school life at Eton in the fall, royal observers expect his public role to continue expanding gradually in the coming years, following the pattern set by his father and other senior royals before him. For now, Wednesday's portrait offers the latest marker of that gradual transition, capturing George on the cusp of adolescence as he prepares for a new chapter both academically and within his evolving role as a future king.