Prince Louis' fourth birthday marked with beach photos

Photographs of Prince Louis have been released to mark his fourth birthday.

The pictures were taken earlier this month on the Norfolk coast by his mother, the Duchess of Cambridge.

They show Louis - the youngest of her three children - enjoying a trip to the beach and holding a cricket ball.

To mark the prince's third birthday, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge released a photograph of him on his bike about to go to nursery for the first time.

In this year's series of four photos, Prince Louis is pictured on the dunes in Norfolk, wearing a grey jumper with a band of colourful stars, and a shirt and blue shorts.

Prince Louis is fifth in line to the throne after his grandfather the Prince of Wales, his father Prince William, and older siblings Prince George and Princess Charlotte.

He was born at the private maternity Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital in London at 11:01 BST on 23 April 2018, weighing 8lb 7oz.

His mother Catherine's photos have regularly been used to mark her children's birthdays.

The 40-year-old is patron of the Royal Photographic Society, and also released a pandemic photography book in partnership with the National Portrait Gallery last year.

Hold Still featured 100 photographs taken by members of the public during the pandemic, and the Duchess said it would serve as a "lasting record of what we were all experiencing".