The Palace released a sweet photo of Princess Charlotte to celebrate her 8th birthday

It's birthdays galore in the royal household, as another member of the royal family is celebrating their special day - Princess Charlotte. 

Princess Charlotte turns 8 today (2nd May), and to mark the Prince and Princess of Wales' daughter's birthday, they shared an adorable photo of their child in her honour. 

The photograph was captured by Kate Middleton and shared on their official Instagram account one day before Charlotte's special day. 

The post read: "Wishing Princess Charlotte a very happy birthday! 8 tomorrow."

It has already reached over 740,000 likes on the photo-sharing site, with some claiming Charlotte looks like her father in the snap. 

One commented: "Looks so much like her dad in this shot!! Just beautiful. Happy Charlotte day!"

Another added: "Wow she's growing up so fast. She's so beautiful and looks a lot like her dad. Happy Birthday to Princess Charlotte, hope she will have a wonderful day."

While a third chimed in: "She is William's mini-me."

In the photo, Charlotte can be seen beaming with joy, flashing her teeth, as she sits on a wicker chair. 

The little royal can be seen wearing a white dress with blue floral detail on, and a ruffle neck detail. 

Kate is usually behind the lens when it comes to the birthday tributes to her children which are shared on social media. 

For this photo, she returned to being behind the camera. However, in a birthday tribute to Kate and William's youngest child, Prince Louis last month, Kate was in the frame. 

Instead of Kate taking the photo for Louis, photographer Millie Pilkington was on hand to capture sweet moments. 

Charlotte enjoyed a great start to her birthday and celebrated in style with close friends. 

As a birthday treat, Kate reportedly took Charlotte and a few of her pals to the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, to watch Cinderella performed by the Royal Ballet and the National Ballet of Canada, the Mirror Online has reported. 

Eagle eyed viewers noticed Kate was present with her daughter and her friends in the audience. 

One audience member shared a video of Charlotte on stage with the dancers after the show to pose for a photo. 

Charlotte reportedly wore a purple dress and had her hair pinned back in a ballerina bun, and waved, before glitter fell from the heavens of the stage, which they amused themselves trying to catch. 

The celebrations come just days before Charlotte's grandfather celebrates the Coronation on 6 May at London's Westminster Abbey.