Happy birthday, Princess Charlotte! As the beloved daughter of the Prince and Princess of Wales, the couple got a jump start on Charlotte’s birthday a day early, sharing a tribute to the birthday girl on social media alongside a new photo.

The Wales’ middle child, who is a huge fan of the Disney Pixar movie Toy Story, embodies the same warm compassion and sense of responsibility as her father, and this makes her an invaluable pillar of strength during difficult times.

Yesterday, while much of the world was being distracted by the magic of William and Katherine’s fairy tale, in an unseen photograph from the nuptials to mark their 13th wedding anniversary, today the British Royals treated royally obsessed fans with a new and very sweet photo of Princess Charlotte in honor of her birthday.

Of course, in keeping with tradition, Prince Catherine was behind the lens for the latest casual Royal portrait, which she’s been doing for her children for the past few years. In the snap, Charlotte, wearing a white dress with blue and pink flowers, is seen smiling at the camera while sitting in a white wicker chair.

Catherine has described herself as an enthusiastic amateur photographer in the past, and the palace noted that this new photo was taken last weekend in Windsor. As the photo shared a snap of Princess Charlotte and a young prince of Wales side by side for comparison, fans are all saying how alike she is to her dad. One fan wrote, “Happy birthday Princess Charlotte! You’re so cute and already so grown up. I love the outfit. I hope you have a lovely day tomorrow, and we all love you dearly.” Another fan put, “Oh my gosh, so lovely! Charlotte looks like both her dad and amazing grandmother Diana, and they both look strikingly like William, and Charlotte is a copy of William as a girl. The Windsor and Spencer genes won this battle, Catherine!”

Some fans have also commented on her likeness to the young Elizabeth. The princess’s growth can be seen most clearly in comparison of the birthday images released each year to celebrate her birthday. Taken by her mother Princess Catherine, her first publicly released photograph was taken in May 2015, just weeks after Charlotte was born. In one image, she was photographed sitting on her older brother’s lap, a touching family moment that would not usually have been accessible to an outside photographer.

To mark Charlotte’s second birthday in 2017, the Wales released a photograph of the princess taken by Catherine amongst bale of hay in their home in Norfolk, dressed in a vintage-inspired cardigan. On the princess’s fourth birthday in 2019, a series of photographs showing her more boisterous side were released by Kensington Palace. The images show a much more grown-up Charlotte from the last set of birthday portraits released in 2017, with her shown climbing gates and running with flowers.

The 2021 image released in conjunction with the princess’s birthday showed the princess with a wide smile and wearing floral print dress, not unlike that worn by the queen when she was a little girl in the 1930s with her sister Princess Margaret. The image was once again taken at the Cambridge Norfolk home, adding to the gallery of images marking major milestones in the Royals’ lives.

Many of the birthday portraits taken of the Wales’ children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, have been taken at the property. The seven birthday photos taken by Catherine to celebrate their daughter illustrate a young princess’s transformation from a shy figure to an increasingly confident young Royal who walks side by side with her older brother, the future King Prince George. This birthday photograph shows Charlotte relaxed in a blue cable knit sweater, posing amongst bluebells. In one standout image, the princess sits with an arm around the Wales family cocker spaniel, Ora.

This time of year is awfully busy for the Prince and Princess of Wales and their family. On April 23rd, the family also celebrated Louis’s fifth birthday, which was also marked with a new photo of William and Katherine’s youngest child. The princess, who also shares sons Prince George and Prince Louis with William, recently revealed her special birthday tradition when it comes to the kids: “I love making the birthday cake,” she said on the Mary Berry’s “A Berry Royal Christmas” special in 2021. “It’s become a bit of a tradition that I stay up till midnight with ridiculous amounts of cake mix and icing. I make far too much, but I love it.”