Prince William and Kate Middleton won't mark Princess Charlotte's birthday in the usual way for this powerful reason

This weekend will mark Princess Charlotte's sixth birthday, but Prince William and Kate Middleton won't mark the celebration in the usual way this weekend, thanks to a very important reason.

• Princess Charlotte will celebrate her sixth birthday on Sunday.
• It's thought that Prince William and Kate Middleton won't release an official birthday portrait of her this weekend - for a special reason.
• This royal news comes after the reason why William and Kate's anniversary video may look familiar to you was revealed.

These days, royal family milestones, like birthdays, are usually marked with the release of an unseen portrait.

Last week, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge shared a gorgeous new photo of Prince Louis to mark his third birthday and two new portraits of the couple were released yesterday, to mark their 10 year anniversary.

While we'd usually expect a sweet new snap of Princess Charlotte to be shared on the Kensington Royal Instagram account on the eve of her birthday, it's unlikely we'll be treated to an up to date glimpse of Charlotte on the Cambridges' page before next week.

This is because Prince William is standing in solidarity with a very special cause.

He took to Twitter this afternoon to announce that he will be joining the Football Association in a social media boycott this weekend, to stand up against online trolling and abuse.

'As President of the FA I join the entire football community in the social media boycott this weekend. W,' William wrote on the platform, receiving thousands of likes.

'This weekend we join the football community in the UK in uniting for a social media boycott from 3pm on Friday 30 April to 11.59pm on Monday 3 May, in response to the sustained abuse received online by players and many others in the football community,' an Instagram post explained.

Royal fans began responding to the announcement, fearing that it would mean Charlotte's birthday portrait would be forgotten about.

'As long as this social media block out doesn't prevent Princess Charlotte from having a birthday photo released and celebrated, I support your boycott,' one wrote.

Another asked, 'So does it means no post(s) for Princess Charlotte's birthday on 2 May?'

'This was my first thought too ☹️,' a third disappointed comment wrote. 

While it seems unlikely William will break the important boycott, we can hope that a post shared in honour of Princess Charlotte's special day will follow on Tuesday.

Other royal fans suggested that we may be treated to some snaps of Charlotte, shared by other members of The Firm.

The official Royal Family social accounts may share a post for her birthday, while her grandfather Prince Charles and step-grandmother Duchess Camilla could share some pictures on their Clarence House account.