Royal Giggles Abound: Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis Celebrate George’s 12th Birthday with Heartwarming Laughter at Anmer Hall

The touching clip is the latest example of the Wales family’s commitment to a more personal approach to social media

They’ve made their personal, in-touch approach to social media a family hallmark – and to celebrate the 12th birthday of Prince George, the Prince and Princess of Wales have released a touching video of the heir to the throne, alongside his siblings, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. In the 15 second clip, the three children can be seen laughing with one another as they joke around in the gardens of Anmer Hall, the family’s Norfolk home.

The footage, set to a peaceful soundtrack of piano music, shows the siblings posing together, with Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis perched atop a gatepost while Prince George stands alongside them. The two elder siblings then pick up Prince Louis before the trio walk hand in hand through a field, giggling with one another. The video features the same, old-fashioned film effects as the clip the Princess of Wales released last March, to announce the end of her chemotherapy treatment. That video, made by Will Warr, appears to have heavily influenced the style of this latest release.

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The Prince and Princess of Wales published a new picture of their eldest son on 22 July, which showed the youngster leaning on a gate in the garden, dressed in a checked shirt and a gilet, grinning broadly at the camera. Taken by Josh Shinner, the caption on Instagram read: ‘Happy 12th birthday to Prince George!’ In the accompanying video, George, Charlotte and Louis wear the same outfits they donned for a set of photographs that were released to celebrate Father’s Day earlier this year – suggesting that this footage and George’s birthday portrait may have been shot on the same day.

Prince George, born in 2013, is expected to one day become King – and the Prince and Princess of Wales have started to give their son a taste of what life in the spotlight entails. George played a starring role in his grandfather’s Coronation as a page of honour, was on his best behaviour at Trooping the Colour and recently joined his parents at Wimbledon.

From rambunctious toddler to sensible big brother (setting a well-behaved example for Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis), the eldest of the Wales brood has been through quite the evolution. And, as his time at Lambrook School has now come to an end, a decision has presumably been made about where the future King will continue his education. The Waleses were reportedly seen on secret visits to the likes of Marlborough College and Highgate School – but, insiders tell the Mail on Sunday, the die is cast, and ‘all roads lead to Eton’.

It was previously reported that Kate Middleton had hoped to send Prince George to her own alma mater, Marlborough, where the mixed education would have meant that the young royal could later be joined by Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis as the trio graduate from Lambrook School in Berkshire – just as Kate studied alongside her sister Pippa and her brother James. In January, insiders told The Mail on Sunday that the Princess of Wales had her heart so set on sending her son to the £59,000-a-year Wiltshire school where she was crowned ‘most likely to be loved by everybody’ in her yearbook. ‘Parents have been talking about nothing else, and discussions have really ramped up in recent weeks, but security is obviously a massive consideration,’ a source told the outlet, with the assumption being that George would board at C1 house, located around the college’s main quad.

But insiders now say that there is a ‘smugness’ radiating from the Eton College school gates, where Prince William and Prince Harry both cut their teeth in the 90s. Reportedly, the Prince and Princess of Wales made a hush-hush prospective visit to the £63,000-per-year school ahead of the Easter holidays. ‘It’s the talk of the school, and of the parents,’ a source told Richard Eden at the time. Little wonder: is there any faster way to climb the social power index than getting your youngster invited to birthday parties with the future king at Kensington Palace?

If Prince George were to start studying at Eton, he would join one of the most esteemed lists of alumni in the country; think 20 Prime Ministers, Tom Hiddleston, and George Orwell. It would also be incredibly convenient for the family, who live just a fives ball’s throw away at Adelaide Cottage in Windsor Home Park. Only time will tell exactly which school the Prince attends in September – but it’s safe to say the Waleses are already prepping their eldest son for the role of a lifetime.