--- description: The Prince and Princess of Wales marked their daughter Charlotte's ninth birthday by sharing an image taken by Kate Middleton. title: How Kate Middleton is Honoring Princess Charlotte's Birthday image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4c9155a606759b29/698a564f096a9472e96b0786/GettyImages-1553866355.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [royals](/tag/royals/) ## royals Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # How Kate Middleton is Honoring Princess Charlotte's Birthday  by [Armani Syed](/author/armani-syed/)  ## Armani Syed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Syed was a reporter for TIME, based in the London bureau. May 2, 2024 11:16 AM CUT  Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, and her daughter, Princess Charlotte, are seen here watching the tennis at Wimbledon in London, England, in July 2023. Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, and her daughter, Princess Charlotte, are seen here watching the tennis at Wimbledon in London, England, in July 2023.Tim Clayton—Getty Images  by [Armani Syed](/author/armani-syed/)  ## Armani Syed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Syed was a reporter for TIME, based in the London bureau. May 2, 2024 11:16 AM CUT The British royal family is celebrating Princess Charlotte's ninth birthday with a new portrait taken by her mother, Kate Middleton. The image—shared to the official [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/C6dejAktAsO/?hl=en "undefined") and [X (formerly Twitter)](https://twitter.com/KensingtonRoyal/status/1785960222311264586 "undefined") accounts of the Prince and Princess of Wales on Thursday morning—shows Charlotte in a garden, smiling beside a pink flower bush. “Happy 9th Birthday, Princess Charlotte!,” the caption reads. “Thank you for all of the kind messages today.” The young princess is William and Kate’s second of three children, alongside her older brother Prince George, 10, and younger brother Prince Louis, 6\. She is the couple’s only daughter and [third in line](https://time.com/6265015/royal-family-tree-succession-king-charles-iii/ "undefined") to the British throne. The family has taken some time away from the spotlight as Kate undergoes “[preventative chemotherapy](https://time.com/6959909/kate-middleton-preventive-chemotherapy/ "undefined")” for an undisclosed type of cancer. On March 22, the Princess shared [a video message](https://time.com/6959819/kate-middleton-cancer-diagnosis/ "undefined") in which she revealed she had been diagnosed following a planned abdominal surgery. “We hope that you will understand that, as a family, we now need some time, space, and privacy while I complete my treatment,” Kate said in the video. The royal couple has maintained their social media presence in recent weeks, sharing a number of personal images. On Monday, William and Kate shared [a previously unseen image](https://www.instagram.com/p/C6WDpq3NZmI/?hl=en "undefined") from their wedding—taken by Millie Pilkington—to mark their 13th anniversary. The couple [shared a portrait of Louis](https://www.instagram.com/p/C6GhkvDNg0H/?hl=en "undefined") on April 23, also taken by Kate, to celebrate his sixth birthday. Kate is known to enjoy photography and captures a lot of the images used in royal communications about her family. In March, a Mother’s Day photograph captured by William was withdrawn from a number of [prominent photo agencies](https://time.com/6899310/kate-middleton-speaks-out-new-picture-after-surgery/ "undefined") over concerns that the image had been digitally manipulated. “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” Kate said in [a statement](https://twitter.com/KensingtonRoyal/status/1767135566645092616?s=20 "undefined") on March 11\. “I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6973641/kate-middleton-princess-charlotte-birthday-photo-social-media/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6973641/kate-middleton-princess-charlotte-birthday-photo-social-media/"},"headline":"How Kate Middleton is Honoring Princess Charlotte's Birthday","datePublished":"2024-05-02T11:16:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T17:33:13.780Z","description":"The Prince and Princess of Wales marked their daughter Charlotte's ninth birthday by sharing an image taken by Kate Middleton.","url":"https://time.com/6973641/kate-middleton-princess-charlotte-birthday-photo-social-media/","keywords":["royals","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4c9155a606759b29/698a564f096a9472e96b0786/GettyImages-1553866355.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Armani Syed","jobTitle":"Syed was a reporter for TIME, based in the London bureau.","url":"https://time.com/author/armani-syed/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4c9155a606759b29/698a564f096a9472e96b0786/GettyImages-1553866355.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Championships - Wimbledon 2023","caption":"The Championships - Wimbledon 2023","creditText":"Tim Clayton—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/royals/","name":"royals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6973641/kate-middleton-princess-charlotte-birthday-photo-social-media/","name":"How Kate Middleton is Honoring Princess Charlotte's Birthday"}}]}] ```