Prince William and Kate Middleton celebrate Princess Charlotte’s fourth birthday with new photos

The photographs were taken by the Duchess of Cambridge at the family's home in Norfolk

Kensington Palace has released new photographs of Princess Charlotte ahead of her fourth birthday.

On Wednesday, the palace announced the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were “very pleased to share three new photographs” ahead of their daughter’s birthday on Thursday 2 May.

“The photographs were taken in April by The Duchess at Kensington Palace and at their home in Norfolk,” a statement from the Palace reads.

In the photographs, Princess Charlotte plays in the grass near the family's home. In one photo, she is pictured running as she holds a yellow flower.

Another shows the soon-to-be-four-year-old smiling as she straddles a fence, while the final portrait sees the princess sitting in the grass wearing a floral blue dress and blue sneakers.

Princess Charlotte is celebrating her fourth birthday (REUTERS)

The photos of Princess Charlotte were taken by the Duchess of Cambridge (REUTERS)

The never-before-seen photos were shared by the palace (REUTERS)

The images, which were shared across the official Kensingston Palace social media accounts, come weeks after the Palace released several photographs of Prince Louis ahead of his first birthday on 23 April.

The images of Prince Louis, which were also taken at the family’s home in Norfolk by Kate Middleton, see the young royal playing in the garden.

In two of the photos, Louis wears a dark red round-neck jumper with a collared shirt underneath. Smiling with his mouth open, he has two bottom front teeth.

(HRH The Duchess of Cambridge/PA Wire (HRH The Duchess of Cambridge/PA Wire)

In the third image, he is wearing a blue jumper with a dog stitched on the front.

This isn’t the first time Kate has shown off her photography skills.

The duchess broke with royal tradition in 2015 when she took the first official portraits of her daughter, instead of recruiting a royal photographer. In the pictures, Princess Charlotte was held by Prince George at Anmer Hall, in Norfolk.

Kate has also taken several images of her children over the years including a portrait of Charlotte with her baby brother, Prince Louis, days after his birth in 2018, and photos of Princess Charlotte on her first day at Willcocks Nursery School earlier that year.

Ahead of London’s National Portrait Gallery exhibition Victorian Giants: The Birth of Art Photography last year, Kate – who is the patron at the gallery – penned the foreword to the exhibition catalogue and opened up about her love of photography.

“Children held a special place in the Victorian imagination and were celebrated for their seemingly boundless potential,” Kate wrote.

“This notion still rings true for us today and it underpins much of my official work and the charities I have chosen to support, and, indeed, my role as a young mother.”

The royal’s official profile on the royal family website also sheds light on her passion for working behind the camera lens.

“Her Royal Highness is a keen photographer, and an Honorary Member of the Royal Photographic Society,” reads a section from her profile.

Another section from the page reads: "In March 2018 The Duchess became the first Royal Patron of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

"The Patronage reflects Her Royal Highness's interest in the visual arts, photography, design and textiles."