Prince George Experienced a Royal Milestone in Balmoral, Scotland This Weekend

Normal kids have milestones like "first day of school" and "first time tying their shoe all on their own." Royal kids (opens in new tab) have...different milestones. This weekend, Prince George hit a uniquely royal milestone when he participated in his first grouse shoot at Balmoral Castle in Scotland (opens in new tab). There's a lot about that sentence that is very specific to royals, but a five-year-old going out on a hunt for large-ish birds, that has "very old royal tradition (opens in new tab)" written all over it.

Details about George's big weekend come courtesy of Emily Andrews, the royal correspondent for The Sun (opens in new tab). In a tweet (opens in new tab), Andrews explained that George was actually taken on his first grouse shoot on Friday, accompanied by his mother, Kate Middleton.

The whole royal family (opens in new tab) was in tow to celebrate George's milestone though. According to Andrews, the Queen, Prince Charles (opens in new tab), Prince Edward and his wife, Sophie, as well as their children, Louise and James, Princess Anne (opens in new tab), and Anne's daughter, Zara, and her husband Mike Tindall (opens in new tab), all joined George and Kate for lunch after the big shoot.

While they weren't reported to be at the post-grouse shooting lunch, Prince William, Princess Charlotte, and baby Prince Louis are all also reportedly vacationing (opens in new tab) in Balmoral too, Hello! (opens in new tab) reports.

The trip is very special for Will, Kate, George, and Charlotte (opens in new tab) in particular. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge stayed in Balmoral for the first few years of their oldest children's lives before relocating to London (opens in new tab) to take over more official royal duties. Balmoral is also known to be a favorite place of Queen Elizabeth (opens in new tab)'s; she visits the castle every summer.