The children of Prince William and Kate Middleton are something of a paradox. On one hand, they seem like any other children, especially when we saw an impatient Prince Louis making hilarious faces at the Trooping of the Colour. On the other hand, these children were destined to become some of the richest and most powerful people on the planet from the moment they were born.
With respect to Prince Louis and Prince George, Princess Charlotte is the only one who seems to have a very regal bearing these days. In fact, when her brothers were slouching, waving, and generally being brattish during the Trooping of the Colour, it was Charlotte who usually had to put them in her place.
What, though, do you really know about this precocious princess? Keep reading to discover some wild facts about this particular royal!
From ‘easy’ to Boss Baby
Princess Charlotte was born on May 2, 2015 (making her seven years old today). Royal or not, some babies are easier to raise than others. How, then, was Charlotte as an infant? It depends on when you ask the question!
According to Hello! Magazine in February 2016, Prince William described the nine-month-old Charlotte as “very easy, very sweet,” but even then knew “there will be some drama” when she got older. A year later, in March 2017, People reports that Kate Middleton confessed to the wife of a Royal Marine commando: “Charlotte is growing up really fast. She is the one in charge.”
Look like “easy” and “sweet” gave way to Boss Baby very quickly!
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Historic child
These days, Princess Charlotte may be keeping her brothers in their place. This is only fitting, though, since her birth meant fighting her brothers for her place in the family!
In previous generations, boys were given preference in the line of succession, meaning that elder daughters would get moved down the line by their younger brothers. Fortunately, Charlotte’s parents helped champion the Succession to the Crown Act passed by U.K. Parliament in 2013, which ends the system of male primogeniture. This secured Charlotte’s place in the family as well as the places of all future royal women.
Charlotte is currently fourth in the line of succession, followed by her younger brother Prince Louis in the fifth position. (Previously, Louis would have superceded Charlotte’s position because he is male.)
Big fan of unicorns
While Charlotte may be a bit mature before her time, there are certain things she has in common with the typical little girl. And one of those things is that she really and truly loves unicorns.
Eagle-eyed fans of the royal family may have noticed that Charlotte sometimes rocks unicorn paraphernalia, including a cute unicorn keyring. And as Daily Mail reports, William once directly commented on his daughter’s passion when he spotted a homemade unicorn horn: “My daughter loves unicorns. Loves them. Very cool.”
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Unusual snack of choice
A love of unicorns is something Charlotte shares with millions of people. However, her choice of favorite snack is probably enough to make millions of people give her some serious side-eye.
According to The Mirror, Kate Middleton revealed her daughter’s favorite snack food in May 2021. While other children are passionate about things like chocolate, Charlotte is all about snacking on olives! It seems that in addition to acting so mature, the young princess is happy to eat like an old person as well.
Family nicknames
Part of being a royal is having a whole bunch of weird titles. Right now, though, Charlotte mostly has to worry about nicknames. And she’s picked up at least a few very silly ones!
According to Express, Kate Middleton sometimes calls her daughter “Lottie” rather than Charlotte. William, a bit more sentimentally, sometimes calls her “Mignonette,” a French word meaning Charlotte is delicate and small.
However, those outside of the family have given Charlotte very different nicknames due to her personality. Marie Claire reports that since Charlotte was such a tomboy at a young age, she has had a nickname at school since her nursery days: “warrior princess.”
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Love of gymnastics
A common criticism of the Royal Family is that they sit around and don’t do much of anything. However, Charlotte never got that memo, and she stays about as active as she can do to an unexpected passion: gymnastics!
According to Express, Kate Middleton gushed about Charlotte’s newfound love of gymnastics. “Charlotte is really into gymnastics, she’s doing cartwheels, handstands, everything. It’s so good for their basic skills of balance and coordination.” Honestly, a royal being so active and flexible is probably the best possible flex (so to speak) she could have against the average American.
Tiny equestrian
A more stereotypically royal passion Charlotte has is horses. But she isn’t just your average horse girl. Instead, the princess has been riding horses since she was only 17 months old!
Interestingly, Queen Elizabeth also has a major love of horses. We can only imagine Charlotte becoming a tiny equestrian has helped to bring the two of them closer together.
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Learning Spanish
A major part of being in the Royal Family is international travel. For both work and pleasure, royals are constantly traveling the world, and it helps to know a bit of the local language when they are visiting.
Perhaps this is why, as People reports, Charlotte has been learning to speak Spanish! This was courtesy of her original nanny, Maria Turrion Borrallo, who is from Spain. And we can only imagine it’s harder to make a nanny go away than to turn off your DuoLingo notifications.