Prince George’s new official photograph released ahead of Australia and New Zealand tour

A new official photograph of Prince George with his parents, Kate Middleton and Prince William, has been released ahead of their tour of Australia and New Zealand.

The eight-month-old is pictured in Kate Middleton’s arms while Prince William holds their dog, Lupo.

In the image, taken by royal christening photographer Jason Bell, the family is looking through an open window at their Kensington Palace home.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are due to arrive in New Zealand on April 7.

They then fly to Australia on April 16 and their three-week tour ends on April 25.

In the new image, Prince George is wearing a pale blue jumper bearing his name, while Kate Middleton wears a cream-colored blouse and Prince William a shirt with rolled-up sleeves.

Prince George, who is third in line to the throne, is not looking directly at the camera like his parents – instead, he is smiling at the black cocker spaniel next to him.

Other than a glimpse of the curtains, little of the Cambridges’ renovated Kensington Palace home can be seen in the photograph.

It is the first official picture of Prince George to be released since his christening last October.

The visit to Australia and New Zealand will be Prince George’s first official overseas tour. The trip echoes the Prince and Princess of Wales’s visit to Australia and New Zealand in 1983 when the couple took Prince William, then aged nine months, with them.

The tour will begin in Wellington, where Prince William and Kate Middleton will be greeted with a ceremonial welcome to New Zealand, called a Powhiri in Maori.

They will see a yacht race, visit a rugby stadium and a vineyard, and there will also be Maori engagements in Christchurch and Dunedin.

During their time in New Zealand, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will attend a ceremony in Blenheim to recognize the sacrifice of members of the Australian and New Zealand armed forces in the First World War.

There will be a similar commemorative ceremony in Canberra, Australia.

Prince William and Kate Middleton’s Australian itinerary includes visits to Uluru in the Northern Territory, as well as Sydney and Adelaide.

They will also visit an area of the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, that was hit by bushfires last October.

Their 11-strong entourage includes Prince George’s new nanny, Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo, and a hairdresser.

Prince William has made a number of official trips to Australia and New Zealand in the past, but Kate Middleton is yet to pay an official visit to either country.