PRINCE Louis turns eight today – and the Royal Family are no doubt set to mark the special occasion with celebrations.

Over the years, the youngest child of the Prince and Princess of Wales has solidified himself as a fan favourite among royal fans with his cheeky antics on rare public occasions often stealing the show.

To mark Prince Louis’ eighth birthday, his parents have shared a sweet photo of the royalCredit: Matt Porteous
 

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Princess Kate, 44, has previously shared several birthday traditions of the family, notably that she frequently stays up until midnight baking cakes for her three kid’s special daysCredit: Splash
 

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Prince Louis has solidified himself as a fan favourite among royal fans several with his cheeky antics on rare public occasionsCredit: Splash
His mum, Princess Kate, 44, has previously shared several birthday traditions of the family, notably that she frequently stays up until midnight baking cakes for her three kid’s special days.

However, there is one mischievous tradition, started by Princess Diana, which Wills, 43, finds challenging every year.

The custom originated when Princess Diana would present the children of her close friend, Julia Samuel, with noisy presents which proved difficult to assemble – and while that delighted the youngsters, this certainly exasperated the parents.

Julia, who is one of Prince George’s seven godparents, has continued this tradition with the Wales family – which means Prince William has to face this task annually.

Julia, 66, first discussed the entertaining ritual during her appearance on the podcast How to Fail with Elizabeth Day in a 2020 episode commemorating what would have been Diana’s 59th birthday, revealing: “I do to George what [Diana] did to us, which is give impossible toys that are really noisy and take a lot of making.

“William then has to spend days putting them together. And then put all the machinery together, and it makes awful tooting noises and lights flashing and all of that.”

Speaking on the podcast, Julia revealed the rest of the royal household finds it amusing watching Wills struggle with assembling the presents, particularly “cheeky” George.

She noted it “makes [her] laugh, and it makes George laugh.”

When discussing her royal godson George, Julia described him as “amazing”, suggesting her close friend Diana would have cherished him deeply.

“He’s funny and feisty and cheeky and God she [Diana] would have loved him so much,” she said. “That is heart-breaking for all of them.”

To mark Prince Louis’ birthday, his parents have also shared a sweet photo of their eight-year-old royal. Wearing a blue zip up jumper, the youngest son of the Prince and Princess of Wales posed for the snap taken on a boat with the sea behind him.

Posting on Instagram, parents William and Kate said: “Happy birthday, Louis! 8 today!“

Last year, gap-toothed Louis was snapped in a similar pic by Josh Shinner, one of the family’s preferred photographers, earlier this month in Norfolk.

And the year before, Kate revealed a cute snap she captured at Windsor to mark Louis’s sixth birthday.

Although the trio – Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, ten, and Prince Louis – never knew their grandmother personally, Prince William has spoken about preserving her memory for his children by ensuring they understand the details of Diana’s life.

Speaking during the 2017 ITV documentary Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy, Wills said: “So we’ve got more photos up round the house now of her and we talk about her a bit and stuff.

”And it’s hard because obviously Catherine didn’t know her, so she cannot really provide that level of detail.

“So I do, regularly, putting George or Charlotte to bed, talk about her and just try and remind them that there are two grandmothers, there were two grandmothers in their lives.

”And so it’s important that they know who she was and that she existed.”

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The custom originated when Princess Diana would present the children of her close friend, Julia Samuel, with noisy presents which proved difficult to assembleCredit: Getty
 

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Julia, 66, first discussed the entertaining ritual during her appearance on the podcast How to Fail with Elizabeth DayCredit: Not known, clear with picture desk
 

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Prince William has spoken about preserving his mum’s memory for his children by ensuring they understand the details of Diana’s lifeCredit: Splash