Kate posts sweet tribute to Prince of Wales on his 42nd birthday

The Princess of Wales has paid tribute to her husband in a happy birthday message to mark his 42nd birthday.

In a post on X, Kate wrote: "Happy Birthday Papa, we all love you so much! Cx".

The photo shows William jumping in the air, holding hands with his three children at a beach.

It was taken by Kate last month in Norfolk.

Earlier, Buckingham Palace shared a photograph of the King with the prince as a baby on his lap.

The black-and-white image was taken at Kensington Palace in London, on 1 February 1983.

The picture was posted on the Royal Family's X account on Friday morning.

It was accompanied by the message: "Happy Birthday to The Prince of Wales!"

William is celebrating his big day after watching England's disappointing Euro 2024 draw against Denmark.

The prince, who is president of the FA, was pictured alongside Denmark's King Frederik as the two teams went head to head in Frankfurt, Germany, with the Three Lions drawing 1-1 in their second match of the tournament.

William's birthday follows a difficult year with both his wife the Princess of Wales and father the King diagnosed with cancer.

Kate returned briefly to the public eye at Trooping the Colour last weekend with William and their three children.

But in a personal message to the nation, the princess revealed although she is making good progress, she is "not out of the woods yet".

Kate told how she has good days and bad days and is facing a few more months of chemotherapy treatment.

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The prince met his future wife at St Andrews University, and the pair married at Westminster Abbey in 2011 after dating for more than eight years.

Their first child George was born in 2013, followed by Charlotte in 2015, and Louis in 2018.

Following the death of the late Queen in 2022, the King announced in his first public address he had made William and Kate the new Prince and Princess of Wales.

Prince William Arthur Philip Louis of Wales was born second in line to the throne at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, at 9.03pm on 21 June 1982.

He weighed 7lb 1 1/2oz and was the first child of the then Prince and Princess of Wales.

His mother Diana, who separated from Charles in 1992, died in a car crash in Paris in 1997, when William was just 15 and his brother Prince Harry 12.

The two brothers remain estranged amid a long-running rift, fuelled by accusations levelled by Harry in his Netflix documentary and his memoir Spare.