Prince George’s first major magazine cover story has a distinctly Australian feel.
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On the eve of his first birthday, the young prince appears on the cover of the upcoming issue of Vanity Fair with his parents Prince William and Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge.
The cover shot is of the family enjoying the bilby enclosure at Taronga Zoo back in April, while the feature, written by the Daily Mail’s royal correspondent Katie Nicholl, hints the third in line to the throne may have taken his first steps on Australian soil.
According to a preview of the story published on Tuesday, Prince George learned to ''cruise'' during the family’s official tour of New Zealand and Australia, and was reportedly shuffling along while holding onto furniture inside Admiralty House and Government House in Canberra.
The feature also details his ''colicky beginnings'' and outlines how it wasn’t until the baby was introduced to solid foods that he began sleeping through the night.
''For the first few months the prince cried loudly and frequently, and he was not sleeping through the night. Nanny Jessie Webb tried hard to get him into a routine, but the baby prince, who was still breastfeeding, was permanently hungry,'' Nicholl writes.
News of the baby being a handful for the royal couple is nothing new. During an interview with CNN just weeks into fatherhood in August last year, Prince William called his newborn son ''a rascal''.
''He’s growing quite quickly, actually. But he’s a little fighter. He wriggles around quite a lot and he doesn’t want to go to sleep that much,'' he said.
After Prince George began sleeping regularly earlier this year, Ms Webb, who was also Prince William's nanny, reportedly told the couple she was unable to accompany the family on their tour to Australia and New Zealand. The Duchess then hired a new nanny who was recommended by a friend.
According to Vanity Fair, to ensure she was up to the task, prospective carer Maria Teresa Turrion Borallo ''spent a week bonding with George at Kate’s family home in March under the watchful eyes of the Middleton grandparents, while Will and Kate jetted off to the Maldives for a second honeymoon''.
Kensington Palace are yet to reveal if there are any plans to celebrate Prince George's upcoming first birthday.
Prince William marked his special day back in 1983 by playing with his favourite blue plastic whale without his parents as Princess Diana and Prince Charles were touring Canada at the time.
