Duke and Duchess of Cambridge share new pic of son Louis as he turns three

Prince William and his wife Catherine published a photograph of their youngest child Louis to mark his third birthday on Friday.

The photograph was taken by Kate at Kensington Palace, the family's home in London, shortly before Louis left for his first day at a nearby nursery school.

The picture showed a grinning Louis on a red bicycle with a school bag strapped on his back.

Louis is the second royal to celebrate their birthday this week, with his great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth having marked hers on Wednesday.

The queen turned 95 but there were no public celebrations of an occasion that came days after she buried her husband of 73 years, Prince Philip.

Philip was laid to rest last week Saturday at Windsor Castle, in a scaled-down service attended mostly by family members.

While the queen spent the day at her castle, she did take the time to thank the public for “the support and kindness shown to us in recent days”.

“We have been deeply touched, and continue to be reminded that Philip had such an extraordinary impact on countless people throughout his life,” she said in a statement.