Prince William ‘pressured’ to enforce Prince George’s separation from him and sister Princess Charlotte next week

The Prince of Wales is reportedly feeling the ‘pressure’ when it comes to Prince George’s upcoming 12th birthday and the separation rule that comes with it.

For those not up to speed, the eldest child of Prince William and Kate Middleton is set to turn 12 on 22 July.

The couple are also parents to Princess Charlotte, who turned 10 in May, and Prince Louis, who was seven in April.

However, George’s birthday is a little bit more important this year as it means a long-standing royal practice should be coming into effect.

The young Prince will be bestowed with some new rules and changes as he is the heir presumptive after his father, who will one day take on the role of King of England.

The practices in question are aimed at helping him prepare for the role of King in case of the very unlikely circumstances that he's forced to take it on earlier than expected.

Prince George is set to turn 12 next week, which will see a royal tradition be enforced (Chris Jackson / Getty Images)

Of course, we hope that neither King Charles III nor Prince William will be on their way out any time soon, but the preparations still need to be made in case of emergencies.

And one of these regulations will see him be separated from his dad when travelling, which can understandably seem scary to a 12-year-old.

Historic British royal custom outlines that anyone over the age of 12 in the line of succession cannot travel together for safety reasons.

This is in case of worst case scenarios like plane crashes, to ensure that at least one heir to the throne will be protected at all times to keep the monarchy stable.

While it’s thought that the rule applies to all forms of transport, royal expert Jennie Bond told The Mirror that there’s a possibility it could just be restricted to air travel.

She said: “This is a rule which I think applies only to flying, not to other methods of transport. Nevertheless, it’s going to be rather annoying for the family because they are such a tight little unit and obviously enjoy travelling together.

A royal expert has indicated that Prince William could be feeling the 'pressure' with the changes coming up for his eldest son (Karwai Tang / Getty Images)

“However, I think there will be pressure on William to stick to this rule - at least most of the time. It’s all to do with protecting the succession to the throne.”

She admitted that it must be ‘quite hard for a 12-year-old to accept’ but she’s sure Kate and Will will ‘explain the situation as gently as possible to all three children'.

The royal expert also pointed out that she also doesn’t think we’ll see George literally flying on his own.

The family-of-five will likely just divide up, with George going with mum Kate and the other children travelling with their dad.

Of course, there’s also a slim chance that William may scrap the tradition altogether - but we’ll have to wait and see when the time rolls around!