The official portrait of Prince Louis to celebrate his 8th birthday (Image: PA)<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n He is the little prince with the big personality who always manages to steal the show at royal events. Prince Louis turned eight this week and, to mark the occasion, his parents the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge released a new picture of him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But what kind of man will the fourth in line to the throne \u2013 Louis is the first British prince to be ranked behind an elder sister in the line of succession \u2013 grow up to be and what lies ahead for him?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Prince Louis of Wales, named Louis Arthur Charles, was born at the \u00a37,000-a-night luxury Lindo Wing<\/a> of St Mary\u2019s Hospital, London, on April 23, 2018. He lived at Kensington Palace and Anmer Hall in Norfolk<\/a> during his early childhood and made his Trooping the Colour debut in 2019 as a baby.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Over the years, Louis has become a royal fan favourite. Whether he\u2019s pulling faces at the Platinum Jubilee Pageant or dancing a merry jig to the band at Trooping the Colour, he always knows how to entertain the crowds, In fact, both his mother Princess Catherine and sister Princess Charlotte<\/a> are often spotted trying to rein in his mischievous behaviour.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Prince Louis is in to bat as he enjoys a beach holiday in Cornwall (Image: princeandprincessofwales\u200b\/Instagram)<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n Prince Louis enjoys a dig on the beach in Cornwall. (Image: princeandprincessofwales\u200b\/Instagram)<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n \u201cFrom the moment he appeared on that Jubilee balcony Louis was a natural performer, a joker, a gift to every photographer who ever pointed a lens at him,\u201d says royal author Robert Jobson, the bestselling writer of The Windsor Legacy.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe faces, the finger wagging, the hand clamped over his mother\u2019s mouth when she tried to tell him off [at Queen Elizabeth II\u2019s Platinum Jubilee in 2022]. He was a one boy show and he knew it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Which may be down to his place as the younger sibling to Prince George, 12, and Princess Charlotte, 10, reckons parenting expert and family therapist Meri Wallace, author of Birth Order Blues<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe third-born enters a household with parents who have had years of experience in raising children, and feel more relaxed,\u201d she says. \u201cAs a result, the third born is often a calmer, more easy-going child. The youngest tends to be smiley and charming and gets a lot of attention for his sunny disposition.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Robert Jobson agrees, adding that Louis has \u201cnever been short of an audience\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cHe is not afraid to take the mickey out of his older brother either, mimicking George swishing back his hair, the kind of thing younger brothers have always done and always will,\u201d he continues. \u201cIt is that irreverence that makes him so watchable.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Dr Charlotte Armitage<\/a>, a psychologist and family dynamics and child development expert and author of Generation Zombie says the fact that Louis is so playful in public is testament to the way his parents are bringing him up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cHow Louis behaves in the public eye is testament to the psychological safety of the environment that he is raised in,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt appears that he has been raised by parents who are present and aware of the unique stressors that their children are being exposed to and have tried to protect them as much as possible from the adverse impact that being in the public eye could have.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cLouis appears to be playful and comfortable with his mother, father and grandparents in public which suggests a sense of safety and comfort with his parents, siblings and the wider family unit.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Prince Louis looks just like his mum with his dark hair on holiday in Cornwall (Image: princeandprincessofwales\u200b\/Instagram)<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n However, as the third child in the family, comparisons may inevitably be drawn with that other once handsome, cheeky playful prince, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor<\/a>, who was his late mother Queen Elizabeth\u2019s favourite.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cSome will compare him to child Prince Andrew<\/a>,\u201d Jobson says. \u201cBoth third children, both handsome, both naturals in front of a camera. But that is where it ends.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cAndrew<\/a> grew up knowing he had been born to a reigning monarch, the first British sovereign in a hundred years to have a child while sitting on the throne.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cHis playground was the corridors of Buckingham Palace. It gave him a sense of entitlement he never shook off. He was quite domineering over his younger brother Edward.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Prince Louis by contrast, has been afforded a more \u201cnormal\u201d upbringing by his parents, with the Middleton family\u2019s middle class influence coming into play.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Prince](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/106\/590x\/secondary\/Prince-Louis-6880221.jpg?r=1777047780693\" "\\"Prince")
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