Prince George of Cambridge is five today! Kensington Palace released the above photo to mark the occasion. It was taken at Clarence House, the Prince of Wales’s London residence, earlier this month following Prince Louis’s christening.

George is reportedly spending his birthday in Mustique with his family. Earlier this week, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their three children were spotted boarding a plan for a tropical holiday with the rest of the Middleton family. The destination has long been a go-to spot for this crew since well before the couple’s 2011 wedding, though it’s been a while since we’ve heard word of a trip there.

A photograph of Kate holding George as she boarded a plane there back when she was on maternity leave in 2013 was one of the earliest images the public had of the little prince, while the family also joined the Middletons there when they were expecting Princess Charlotte.

Today’s milestone has garnered some media attention for young George, namely a few articles detailing his recent shyness in public up against his seemingly more outgoing personality with his family. I think the “whys” of that are fairly obvious. From Katie Nicholl’s article in Vanity Fair yesterday:

“George is very aware that he is a prince and that he is different to his peers, and I don’t think he likes the cameras, but William and Kate are doing their best to ensure he has a lovely, normal childhood,” said a family friend. “George needs more coaxing to smile in public because he is quite shy. There’s a lot of William in him.”

Nonetheless, a mother at Thomas’s Battersea says that George is popular in his class. “He’s a lovely boy and is really sweet. He’s very social and makes friends very easily and he’s well-liked.”

The article also notes that Kate apparently dropped George off at school the morning before she gave birth to Louis, which I hadn’t heard before.

With the Cambridges having spent the last week on holiday and no further engagements on the books for next week yet, it’s unclear whether we’ll get a last few before the full August retreat begins, but even so I think the slowness of late summer is  nearly upon us. The Queen has decamped for Scotland and will take up at Balmoral in a couple weeks, not returning to London until early October. Upcoming appearances may well be surprise appearances!