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After all, on his first public engagement in New Zealand back in April, George unwittingly managed to make a female playmate cry by snatching her toy from her.

The second photograph released by Kensington Palace yesterday shows the clearly enchanted young family in the midst of the ‘Sensational Butterflies’ exhibition at the Natural History Museum, in London, as several dozen live butterflies hover in the distance.

Kate is wearing an appropriately summery ￡475 ‘Budding Hearts’ tea-dress by designer Suzannah, which she has worn previously on public occasions.

Meanwhile George, who, like his mother is becoming something of a trend setter, is wearing blue and white stripped dungarees and a navy top by French label Petit Bateau, which sold out within minutes of another picture from the same set being released at the weekend.

It's one of the her favourite colours, apart from red, and here the Duchess of Cambridge proves once again how amazing emerald green looks on her. This dress, with its gorgeous floral print, is by British designer, Suzannah.

The Duke and Duchess also issued a statement thanking members of the public for the hundreds of presents, cards and letters of good wishes they have received since their son’s birth last July.

‘We would like to take this opportunity on George’s first birthday to thank everyone over the last year, wherever we have met them, both at home and overseas, for their warm and generous good wishes to George and our family,’ they said.

Although keen to ensure that their son is allowed to grow up away from the spotlight, William and Kate acknowledged that they needed to mark the future king’s special day with a public gesture.

The Duchess was, however, determined to ensure that one of their patronages would benefit from the occasion, and chose to visit the Natural History Museum’ s pop-up tropical house, full of live, free-flying butterflies and moths. She became patron of the museum in April last year.

The exhibition, which runs until September, was opened up especially for the Cambridges and their team earlier this month but, says one closely involved in the proceedings, things didn’t entirely run to plan.

As it was early morning, the butterflies, which normally swarm around visitors, needed time to warm up, and it was ‘touch and go’ as to whether the shoot would work.

Fortunately a blue morpho butterfly (Morpho peleides) from South America landed in front of the curious little prince and with a click, the carefree shot, so unlike normal royal portraits, was captured for posterity.

According to his parents, George is already ‘racing around and opening doors’ at their Kensington Palace apartment, in advance of many of his peers.

He has a fine set of lungs on him, makes bath-time ‘quite painful’ but adores his ‘best buddy’, Lupo the spaniel.

‘Like most new parents they are just in awe of this little man they have created,’ said one source.

He really is the apple of their eye.

The couple plan to celebrate George’s birthday today with a low-key tea party for family and friends at Kensington palace.

Michael and Carole Middleton – both extremely hands-on grandparents – will attend, alongside Aunty Pippa and Uncle James.

Unfortunately his royal grandparents Prince Charles (also a doting grandpa, in his own way) and the Duchess of Cornwall are in Scotland on official duties.

But the Queen – who is now the first monarch for more than a century to have three living heirs - has no public engagements in her diary.

Staff say they cannot rule out her popping over from Buckingham Palace between meetings to wish her great-grandson a very happy day.