Charlotte’s tribute to ‘Gan-Gan’: Cancer-stricken Kate gets back behind the camera to capture her daughter’s ninth birthday portrait – and it contains a hidden nod to the late Queen

With wavy blonde hair and her cheeky grin, Princess Charlotte is every inch the perfect princess in her ninth birthday portrait.

Her mother Kate Middleton was behind the camera again to take a photo of her daughter to mark her special day Thursday.

Wearing a £42 raspberry wool cardigan from Parisian brand Cyrillus, paired with a checked skirt from the same brand, the youngster grinned happily at the camera.

It’s the second time in recent weeks that Kate and William Royals have broken with their long tradition of releasing birthday portraits of their children.

And it appears Charlotte paid a sweet tribute to her late great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, as she posed next to pale pink flowers named after her.

The flowers – known as Clematis montana var. rubens cultivar – are one of the first plants named after the monarch, as reported by Gardens illustrated.

Kensington Palace usually releases portraits of the Welsh children early in the morning to mark their birthdays.

However, breaking with tradition, the couple shared a photo of Prince Louis last Tuesday afternoon instead of at midnight on his birthday – as is customary for new royal portraits.

They also shared an unseen wedding photo to mark their 13th wedding anniversary. Many wondered whether the future king and queen will share a new photo of their only daughter, following the fallout from their Photoshop furore earlier this year.

A Mother’s Day portrait of Kate and her children, released on March 10, was pulled by multiple photo agencies after the image was found to have been significantly edited.

Less than two weeks later, Kate announced her cancer diagnosis in an emotional video and spoke of the need to protect her young family.

The Mail’s Rebecca English revealed that the couple had initially decided not to release one at all, given their recent calls for privacy at such an ‘unprecedented’ time for their family, but changed their minds as they wanted to thank fans for their kind wishes to Prince Louis.

And speaking to The Express, royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams added that once they decided to release a photo, there were probably a lot of discussions about the best approach, given the furor over Kate’s edited Mother’s Day photo.

Overall, Richard said the timing “could emphasize Kate’s need for time, space and privacy.”

Last year, Charlotte was seen cuddling her spaniel Orla for her birthday photo

He described the ‘annoyed’ issue of her Mother’s Day portrait, describing the response as a ‘very embarrassing slight’.

He added that not rushing a birthday photo of Louis could also “highlight her need for time, space and privacy, which she so movingly expressed” in the video message revealing she has cancer.

Earlier this year, the Princess of Wales explained how the cancer cells were discovered as she underwent surgery for another condition in January.