America may be celebrating Independence Day  today, but at the White House there is double cause for celebration as Malia  Obama turns 15.

The First Daughter, now as tall as her  parents with a keen eye for style, is fast becoming a young lady who can hold  her own with confidence in the public eye.

The past year has seen her join the President  and First Lady on a number of high-profile trips abroad – along with sister  Sasha, 12, of course.

Daddy’s girl: Malia Obama, pictured with her father in  September 2012, celebrates her 15th birthday today

Most recently she was seen stepping  off Air  Force One hand-in-hand with her father as the family arrived in  Pretoria, South  Africa, and again in Tanzania

She joined her mother for lunch with Bono and  Ali Hewson in Dublin,  Ireland, during the family’s visit for the G8 Summit, and  she and her  sister were pictured paying their respects with their parents on a  trip  to Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial.

There is still plenty of time for normal  teenage fun though. Fun that causes  her father more worry than his  responsibilities as President.

Proud father: Malia holds hands with her dad as they  arrive in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, on Monday

Poignant: Malia (left) and Sasha visit the Berlin Wall  memorial on June 19

History lesson: Malia and Sasha co-ordinate in bright  pink for a visit to the Old Library at Trinity College, in Dublin on June 17,  where they were given a presentation on their own family genealogy

Mrs Obama told GMA’s Robin Roberts in  February: ‘There’s nothing like the look on his face when Malia dresses  up for  a party, and she’s heading out.

‘She walks past him, and you can see his face  sort of just drop a little bit. . .

‘He’s a little grey. People think the grey is  from his job. It’s from his children.’

And indeed the President hinted at the same  sentiment during a school visit in Decatur, Georgia, ahead of Valentine’s  Day.

Stylist-in-chief: Malia affectionately smooths her  mother’s bangs during the White House Easter Egg Roll

Photobomb! Cheeky Malia crashes Sasha’s picture after  the pair made their parents kiss for the camera several times over

Perfectly behaved: Malia (center) with Sasha and  Michelle ahead of President Obama’s swearing-in ceremonies on the West front of  the U.S Capitol in Washington

He said: ‘I do have to warn the parents who  are here, who still have young kids,  they grow up to be, like 5ft 10in. . .  They basically don’t have a lot of time for you during the  weekends. They have  sleepovers and dates.’

Malia has a youthful sense of humor too.  Her  mother and sister were in fits of giggles as she made funny faces  for the  cameras in Ireland.

Support act: Malia with her father as he prepares to  give his victory speech on election night in November (left) and a couple of  weeks later with her mother in Washington DC (right)

Dressed to impress: With Sasha on arrival at Berlin  Tegel airport on June 18, (left) and walking across Lafayette Park on her way to  Easter services in Washington, D.C. (right)

And during the Presidential Inauguration  Parade, the cheeky sisters made their parents kiss four times so that they could  capture the moment on their iPhones and iPods – before turning their cameras on  each other.

Malia has a keen understanding of propriety  though. While she and her sister always seem at ease – at one point Malia  affectionately smoothed her mother’s bangs during  the White House Easter Egg Roll in April – they adhere to the rule that they  should be ‘seen and not heard’ at public events.

Birthdays through the years: Malia with her family on  her 11th birthday on July 4, 2009

Watching the parade! The family celebrate Malia’s 10th  birthday in Butte, Montana in 2008

Birthday treat: Malia had her name in lights in  Oskaloosa, Iowa for her 9th birthday in 2007, when her then-Senator dad was on  the presidential campaign trail

‘They are a bit of a mystery,’  JJ  Abrams, an Obama donor and Hollywood writer-director, told the New York Times.  ‘But they’re authentic, and we’re starving for that.’

Malia is not always seen on her birthday,  though she did make an appearance with her mother and father in 2007, 2008 and  2009.

This year though, now firmly in her teens,  she’ll likely have plans with friends.

Outgrowing dad: Nearly as tall as her president father,  Malia walks to Air Force One in Cape Cod on August 29, 2010  (left), and a year  prior Malia leaves the Giolitti Ice Cream parlour in  Rome with a bodyguard on  July 8, 2009

Difference: Malia (right) and her sister Sasha (left) in  January 2009 at a parade for their father’s inauguration

Growing up in the spotlight: Malia aged ten, enjoying  her first taste of fame as she celebrates her father’s victory in the 2008  Presidential Election at Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois

Skater girl: Malia roller-skates with Barack  Obama in  Indiana during the election campaign on May 3, 2008 (left),  just a year after  hanging out in New Hampshire on May 28, 2007 (right)  with her then senator dad

Family fun: Malia at age eight in Disneyland,  with  Sasha, 5, and Michelle Obama (left), and then in a quick family  portrait on  January 4, 2005 (right)

Six going on 16: Malia at age six with Barack  Obama in  November 2, 2004 (left) and in the beginning at age 18months  (right) in Chicago  on primary day, March 21, 2000 with her parents

Read more: DailyMail