A MAJESTIC FAMILY OCCASION

Standing strong on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, the King and four generations of his family celebrated his official birthday in dazzling sunshine and, in Kate's case, sensational style.

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A year after the Princess of Wales made her return to the spotlight while continuing to undergo cancer treatment, Kate, Prince William and their children - Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis - looked their best as they joined the monarch and Queen Camilla to watch the traditional flypast after Trooping the Colour. As always, seven-year-old Louis proved to be the star attraction as he smiled and waved at the crowds along the carriage route.

The day's events began with the royals gathering at Buckingham Palace to get ready for the half-mile procession down The Mall to Horse Guards Parade.

The Prince and Princess of Wales shared a video on social media of the family preparing to leave, with Kate and the kids taking their seats in an Ascot Landau and Prince William getting ready to mount his horse, wearing the full ceremonial guard order and sword of the Welsh Guards and Garter sash with the Lesser George.

The princess, 43, looked regal in a stunning aquamarine coat dress by Catherine Walker and matching hat by Juliette Botterill, echoing an outfit from the same designer worn by her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana, in 1988.

The colour was a nod, too, to the plume worn in the bearskins of the Irish Guards, of which Kate is colonel.

LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER

Princess Charlotte, 10, twinned with her mom in her own aquamarine dress, her hair half up in two braids tied with a white ribbon. Her accessory: a diamond horseshoe brooch given to her by her late great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth II and previously worn by the Queen Mother.