Today is Prince George’s 12th birthday. Happy birthday to him. Reportedly, George is on vacation with his family and his Middleton grandparents in Greece. They’re possibly sailing around on a private yacht, having flown to Greece on a private plane. But George’s parents still have extensive staff, and so someone at Kensington Palace posted this year’s birthday portrait of George. KP won’t let the Princess of Wales photograph the heir anymore, right? Not after last year’s manipulated-photo catastrophe. So they organized a photoshoot with Josh Shinner, who has been taking a lot of photos of the Wales family in the past year.
Speaking of the Wales family’s luxury vacation in Greece, there’s a renewed conversation these days about whether George and his father should continue to fly on the same private plane/helicopter. Prince William and George are the next two people in the line of succession, and there are “protocols” about air travel. Protocols which William has mostly ignored for years.
As Prince George turns 12 today, his parents have been urged to take care to ensure the safety of the future king. A former pilot of the royal helicopters has confirmed that George’s father, Prince William, stopped travelling with the then-Prince Charles when he was 12.
Talking about Charles, Princess Diana and their sons, former pilot Graham Laurie said: ‘Interestingly, we flew all four – the Prince, the Princess, Prince William and Prince Harry, up until Prince William was 12 years old. After that, he had to have a separate aircraft and we could only fly all four together when they were young with the written permission of Her Majesty. When William became 12, he would fly normally in a 125 from Northolt and we would fly the 146 out with the other three on.’
Royal author Robert Jobson reported that the King had raised objections to William, a qualified helicopter pilot, flying the family to Norfolk – where they have a holiday home, Anmer Hall ‘One recent source of disagreement is William’s stubborn refusal to take his father’s advice on safeguarding the succession,’ he wrote in Catherine, the Princess of Wales: A Biography of the Future Queen, published in 2024. ‘Earlier this year, the King had raised concerns with his son about the wisdom of William using his helicopter to fly his entire family around the country.’
A friend of William and Catherine tells me: ‘William is a skilled pilot and loves flying but George must travel separately now.’ A Kensington Palace spokesman tells me: ‘We don’t comment on travel.’
I wonder how this works for a family obsessed with flying privately. Is William just going to chopper himself around and make Kate travel with the kids separately? Probably.
KP also released a short video with all three kids for George’s birthday.
12 today!
pic.twitter.com/UqYj4Y97QM
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) July 22, 2025
Happy 12th Birthday to Prince George!
Josh Shinner pic.twitter.com/L7hAZXOkDw
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) July 22, 2025
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images and Josh Shinner/Kensington Palace.
