Prince George ‘played sheep in school nativity’

Prince George revives fashion's 'most loathed shoe': the Croc

25 June

Sales of Crocs – once described as fashion's "most loathed shoe" – have seen a dramatic rise since Prince George stepped out in a pair earlier this month.

The royal toddler, who turns two-years-old next month, was pictured wearing navy blue Crocband clogs at a charity polo match on 14 June.

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Since then, Amazon has reported a "1,500 per cent" rise in sales of the shoes, which cost around £26.99 a pair.

Time magazine says the prince is following in the footsteps of his mother, who has the power to send designers' sales sky-rocketing simply by wearing their clothes.

Last year, the children's clothes website aden + anais crashed twice after George was pictured in their swaddle cloths, and the company saw a 600 per cent increase in the cloths' sales.

On top of that, the Centre for Retail Research claims the prince contributed around £247m to the British economy in the first nine weeks of his life alone, taking into account money spent on celebratory food and alcohol, souvenirs and toys, and books, DVDs and other media.

"He could even revive the buzz around the sandals everyone loves to hate," says Time.

Known as the "Marmite" of footwear, Crocs broke the $1bn threshold for annual turnover in 2011, with celebrity endorsements from the likes of Alicia Silverston, Teri Hatcher and Jack Nicholson. Then the company was forced to restructure in 2014, cutting jobs and closing shops after the plastic clog appeared to lose favour with shoppers.

One year later, they appear to be back in again, thanks to the young prince.

"Call it the 'Prince George effect'," says Time. "Every item of clothing the son of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge touches has, so far, turned into brand gold."

Prince George 'steals show' as Kate Middleton returns to work

15 June

Prince George "stole the show" not once but twice this weekend as his mother Kate Middleton made her first public appearance since giving birth to Princess Charlotte.

The royal family attended Trooping the Colour on Saturday to celebrate the Queen's official birthday – but all eyes were on Prince George, who appeared on the Buckingham Palace balcony for the first time to watch the Red Arrows.

Sitting in Prince William's arms, he waved to the crowd and pointed to the colourful air display.

"There was no sign of his baby sister, Princess Charlotte, so Prince George stole the show at the Queen's 89th birthday parade yesterday," says The Sunday Times.

The occasion marked the first time that a British monarch had appeared in public alongside three generations of direct heirs, with George wearing the same blue outfit worn by his father at the event in 1984, notes The Times.

Prince George – who turns two next month – made a second public appearance yesterday, watching his father and uncle Harry play a charity polo game in Tetbury, Gloucestershire.

Clutching his toy car and playing happily in the grass, Prince George was the "centre of attention" at the family outing, reports the Daily Telegraph. The newspaper adds that, although he was there to watch his father play in the match, it appeared George was "rather more engrossed in his toys".

Prince George's hand-me-downs for royal baby number two

30 April

Gifts will be pouring in for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's new arrival, but the second royal baby will have a long way to go to stack up as many presents as his or her brother.

Prince George was sent more gifts from around the world than any other UK royal last year, receiving more than 670 presents during his Easter visit to Australia and New Zealand alone.

If the new baby is lucky, he or she might be allowed to share some of Prince George's stash:

Sports jerseys

NBA superstar LeBron James has been trying to drum up support from Prince George for his team, the Cleveland Cavaliers. The basketball player, whose nickname is "King James", even had a tiny shirt made up for the little prince. George also has a mini yellow jersey, presented to his parents at the start of the 101st Tour de France in Leeds, as well as a tiny number seven Wales rugby jersey from Welsh skipper Sam Warburton.

Presidential polo pony

James and Warburton are not the only celebrities to send gifts to the prince – US president Barack Obama sent George a handmade rocking horse, partly made from an oak tree that once stood on the South Lawn of the White House. The saddle bears the presidential seal and Obama sent a toy polo mallet too, so George can practice playing polo like his father.

Miniature amphibious boat

Should Prince George want to escape the royal baby hype, he could sail away on his miniature Sealegs amphibious boat. The gift was waiting for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge when they disembarked from the full-sized version at Hobsonville, Auckland last year.

Fattened black bull

Prince George is the proud owner of a fattened black bull, a goat and four heifers, gifted to him from the Samburu community of north-central Kenya. Elders blessed the royal herd, which is kept at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, where Prince William proposed to Kate. George was also given a newborn crocodile called George, which lives in Darwin and has its own Facebook page.

Bespoke pram

When Kate was pregnant in 2013, she reportedly asked UK nursery brand Silver Cross for a bespoke version of its navy Sleepover Elegance pram. Features included an insect net, four-wheel suspension, deep padded mattress cover and "luxury quilted foot muff".

Sudocrem bracelet

As third in line for the throne, Prince George apparently deserved better than an ordinary plastic pot for his nappy rash cream. Sudocrem commissioned jewellery designer Theo Fennell to create an 18ct white gold bracelet, complete with usable charm-sized nappy rash cream container, in honour of his birth. At £10,000, it was one of the most lavish baby gifts the pregnant Kate Middleton received.

Silver hands and feet

Aunty Pippa was also keen to give her nephew an expensive silver gift. She reportedly spent £7,000 on a silver sculpture of his hands and feet for his christening. To create the moulds, the Daily Mail says the little prince had to have his limbs placed in a jelly-like organic mixture made of water and a seaweed-based powder.

A field of flowers

Count Tibor Kalnoky, an old friend of Prince Charles and a conservationist, gave George the gift of wild flowers. But in order to preserve the present, he bequeathed a whole field of them in the Transylvanian hills. "If we sent flowers, they would wilt," said the count.

Giant wombat

One of Prince George's favourite presents was a giant wombat toy he was given by Australia's Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove in April last year. While he happily grabbed tufts of the wombat's fur, he seemed less impressed with a small toy bilby given to him a few days later, throwing it to the ground in apparent distaste. Other gifts from the Aussie royal tour included a kangaroo-hair blanket and a possum skin cloak.

Prince George: advice on becoming a first-time brother

22 April

Prince George has just days to go before he becomes a big brother for the first time – but luckily mothers, royal correspondents and childcare professionals from across the world have been dispensing their best advice about what he can expect.

Tips for Kate Middleton and Prince William on dealing with "two under-twos" don't appear to bode well for young George, or anyone in his immediate vicinity, with tantrums apparently on the cards.

Prince George will have the "world as he knows it turned upside down by his younger brother or sister", says Laura Elston from New Zealand's 3 News. "As a big brother, the Prince will have to learn to share not only his toys but also the affection of his mother and father with Cambridge baby number two."

The Prince is yet to show off his best sharing skills, reducing another baby to tears on his first official royal engagement by grabbing her wooden toy. "Emotions will be running high," says Murphy.

ABC News' royal contributor Victoria Murphy points out that George has already had some practice with Lupo the dog. "Of course, this baby will be their second child, but in some ways this baby is their third child because you've got to remember they also have Lupo, who was there long before Prince George," she says. "And Lupo is their absolute, beloved pet dog, who they treat exactly like one of the family."

Kim Friedman, whose neurotic texts to her daughter went viral earlier this year, tells People magazine that George will have difficulty adjusting to the new baby. "Two-year-olds have temper tantrums. They have meltdowns. They can hit and scream at the new baby," she says. "So make sure George washes his hands all the time, so at least he doesn't give the new baby germs if he tries to attack."

Friedman warns that George may "crack" when he realises that the new baby is not temporary. "When he understands that baby is not leaving – that it'll keep taking his toys, throwing up on his toys, whatever – he's gonna have some problems."

On the plus side, she recommends that Kate and Wills have a "closet full of gifts wrapped up and ready to give George" so visitors with presents for the new baby will have to give its big brother one too.

And if his new sibling becomes all too much, George can take comfort in the words of Susan, a mother from Park Slope in New York, speaking to Vanity Fair. "The Queen is likely going to favour George because one day he'll have her job," she says, "whereas the new baby is kind of irrelevant."

Prince George: official Christmas photos revealed

22 April

Three official portraits of Prince George have been released in time for Christmas by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

The 16-month-old toddler, who is third in line to the throne, can be seen smiling on the stone steps of a courtyard in Kensington Palace.

It has been almost five months since the prince was last seen in official photographs and a royal spokesperson made clear that the new pictures were released partially as a thank you to the media for not publishing any unauthorised photographs.

A statement from Kensington Palace said the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge released the images in "grateful acknowledgment of the fact that their request for Prince George to grow up without intrusion from photography has been, and continues to be, honoured".

Click on the images below to see them in full:

According to the BBC, the photographs were taken in late November by Prince Harry's private secretary and freelance photographer Ed Lane Fox.

The images, released by Clarence House on Twitter, were shared more than 10,000 times.

Retailer Cath Kidston has been rushing to restock the knitted tank top – featuring Buckingham Palace's iconic guardsman – worn here by Prince George.

The Daily Telegraph points out that designers have sold out of stock previously worn by the prince. "The 'George effect' was coined shortly after the prince was born when sales of the swaddling blanket he was wrapped in as he left hospital rose by 600% in the following week," says the newspaper.

Cath Kidston no longer stocks the top, but has confirmed that it will be added back into its children's wear range in 2015 "due to popular demand". Meanwhile, people who already own the vest have been putting it on eBay in a bid to make some cash.