Prince George’s eight birthday has been marked with a new photograph that pays touching tribute to his great-grandfather, the late Duke of Edinburgh.

In the image, taken by his mother, the Duchess of Cambridge, George sits on the bonnet of a Land Rover Defender, Prince Philip’s favourite make of car.

The Duke of Edinburgh, who died in April a few months short of his 100th birthday, regularly drove Land Rovers and during his funeral, his coffin was carried by a specially adapted defender, which he helped design himself.

A keen photographer, the Duchess of Cambridge often releases images she has taken of George, his sister Charlotte and brother Louis to mark birthdays and major landmarks of both the Cambridge and Royal families.

Prince George was born on July 22, 2013, in the private Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington and, at that time of his birth, was the Queen’s third great-grandchild. She now has 11, after latest arrival in June of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s second child, Lilibet “Lili” Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, who was named by her great-grandmother’s childhood nickname.

George, who is third in line to the throne after his grandfather, the Prince of Wales, and his father, Prince William, made his debut in front of the world’s media on the hospital steps a day after his birth, wrapped in a white merino wool shawl and cradled in his parents’ arms. 

He has since been photographed on his first day of school, at various royal weddings and big occasions, and ahead each of his birthdays.

Kate’s latest pictures of Prince George was taken earlier this month in Norfolk, where the Cambridges have a family home, Anmer Hall, which is close to the Queen’s Sandringham residence.

George, who celebrates his birthday on Thursday, is dressed in a striped polo- top and shorts, and is sporting a big smile for his mother behind the lens. 

Despite this, Kate has previously revealed that her children sometimes beg her to put her camera down. Speaking at an event for her Hold Still photography contest in June, the duchess said about George, Charlotte and Louis: “Everyone’s like, ‘Mummy, please stop taking photographs’.”