- Kate Middleton snapped new photos of Prince Louis to mark his fourth birthday.
- The photos were taken earlier this month on the beach in Norfolk, England.
- Middleton is known to break tradition and take the official photos for her family.
The royal family shared new portraits of Prince Louis on the beach to mark his 4th birthday on Saturday, April 23.
Louis was captured smiling and playing in the sand for his annual birthday photos, taken by his mother Kate Middleton earlier this month on the beach in Norfolk, England, where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have a country home.
Prince William and Middleton shared the images in two Instagram posts. The first post, shared on Friday, was simply captioned: "4 years old tomorrow!"
In the caption of their second post, shared Saturday, the couple thanked fans for their well wishes on their youngest son's birthday. Representatives for Kensington Palace did not immediately respond to Insider's request for further comment.
The royal family's official Instagram account also shared one of the photos of Louis on Saturday, wishing the young prince a happy birthday.
For Louis' 3rd birthday, the duchess shared photos of him riding his bike before his first day at the Willcocks Nursery School in Kensington, London. The year before that, Middleton staged a "Instagram vs reality" photo shoot for the prince's 2nd birthday, snapping photos of Louis as he played with paint.
Middleton is the first royal mom to take official photos of her family. As Insider previously reported, the duchess broke tradition in June 2015 when she took the first photos of Princess Charlotte shortly after she was born.
The royal has captured many family moments, including her children's birthdays as well as Prince George's and Princess Charlotte's first days at nursery school. For Father's Day in 2020, Middleton shared a photo she took of William and Prince Charles in 2019, with Charles resting his head on William's shoulder.
The same day that she shared a photo of Princess Charlotte smelling wildflowers in 2020, Middleton made her first podcast appearance on "Happy Mum, Happy Baby" with host Giovanna Fletcher. At the time, as Insider's Darcy Schild reported, the royal talked about the photo on the podcast, saying it was "moments like that that mean so much to me as a parent."