Kate Middleton, Prince William release new photo for Princess Charlotte’s 9th birthday

Princess Charlotte is 9!

Kate Middleton and Prince William celebrated their only daughter’s milestone moment by releasing a new photo of her on Thursday via their joint Instagram account.

The birthday girl grinned at the camera while leaning on a bush. She paired a navy sweater and a maroon cardigan with a denim skirt and tights.

The never-before-seen snap comes one week after the Prince and Princess of Wales shared a shot of Prince Louis for his 6th birthday.

Middleton, 42, took the photo of her youngest child smiling on a picnic blanket herself.

She and William, 41, are also the parents of 10-year-old Prince George, who celebrates his birthday in July.

For years, Middleton has been taking pictures of her children on their birthdays.

Last year, Charlotte showed off missing teeth in her birthday portrait. She made headlines for looking like William in 2022.

The little one has also posed in the grass wearing floral dresses over the years.

Notably, Middleton was not behind the camera for the heavily-edited family photo released on Mother’s Day in March, but she did apologize via X for the Photoshop job.

Middleton wrote, “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused.”

As subsequent conspiracy theories about her whereabouts began to circulate, Middleton came clean about recent health issues.

When the royal underwent abdominal surgery in January, she was diagnosed with cancer.

Middleton, who is currently being treated with chemotherapy, explained in her announcement video that she delayed sharing to help George, Charlotte and Louis “process” the news in an “appropriate” way.

She explained, “As I have said to them, I am well and getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal in my mind, body and spirits.”