Princess Charlotte beams in ninth birthday photo as Kate Middleton gets back behind the camera to take snap

With flowing blonde hair and her cheeky grin, Princess Charlotte is every inch the perfect Princess in her ninth birthday portrait.

Her mother Kate Middleton was back behind the camera again to snap an image of her daughter to mark her special day. 

Wearing a £42 raspberry wool cardigan from Parisian brand Cyrillus teamed with a demin skirt from the same brand, the youngster grinned happily for the camera.

It's the second time in recent weeks that Kate and William royals have broken with their long-held tradition for releasing their children's birthday portraits. 

Kensington Palace typically releases portraits of the Wales children early in the morning to mark their birthdays.

However, in a break with tradition, William and Kate shared a photo of Prince Louis last Tuesday afternoon rather than at midnight on his birthday as is customary with new royal portraits. They also shared an unseen wedding photo to mark their 13th wedding anniversary.

Many were wondering if the future King and Queen will share a new snap of their only daughter, following the fallout from their Photoshop furore earlier this year.

A Mother's Day portrait of Kate and her children, released on 10th March, was pulled by multiple photo agencies after it was revealed the image had been significantly edited.

Less than two weeks later, Kate announced in an emotional video that she has cancer and spoke of the need to protect her young family.

The Mail's Rebecca English revealed that the couple had initially decided not to issue one at all given their recent appeals for privacy at such an ‘unprecedented’ time for their family, but changed their minds because they wanted to thank fans for their kind wishes to Prince Louis.

And in conversation with The Express royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams added that once they'd decided to release a photo there were likely a lot of discussions about the best approach, given the furore over Kate's edited Mother's Day photo.

Overall, Richard said the timing could 'emphasise Kate's need for time, space and privacy.'

Describing the 'vexed' issue of her Mother's Day portrait, he described the backlash as a 'highly embarrassing contretemps'.

He added that not rushing out a birthday photo of Louis could also 'emphasise her need for time, space and privacy which she expressed so movingly' in the video message revealing she has cancer.

Earlier this year, the Princess of Wales detailed how the cancerous cells were discovered, while she was undergoing surgery for a different condition in January.