by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2015

Princess Charlotte of Wales

Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana of Wales is the second child of the three children of Prince William, The Prince of Wales and the former Catherine Middleton. She was born at 8:34 am on May 2, 2015, at the Lindo Wing, St. Mary’s Hospital in London. For some background on her name see: Unofficial Royalty: What’s in a Name? – Princess Charlotte of Wales

Charlotte had an older and a younger brother:

• Prince George of Wales (born July 22, 2013)
• Prince Louis of Wales (born April 23, 2018)

Regardless of the gender of any younger siblings, Princess Charlotte will remain second in the line of succession to the British throne after her father The Prince, and her older brother Prince George of Wales until her older brother has children. The Succession to The Crown Act 2013, which formally went into effect on March 26, 2015, put in place absolute primogeniture, which means that for those born after October 28, 2011, the eldest child born becomes the heir to his or her parent, regardless of gender.  With the birth of her younger brother Prince Louis on April 23, 2018, Charlotte became the first British princess not to be overtaken in the line of succession by her younger brother.

Later that same day, Prince William brought Prince George to the hospital to meet his new baby sister. And just a few hours later, William and Catherine and their daughter left the hospital and returned home to Kensington Palace, where they were visited by members of their families. Two days later, the couple announced their daughter’s name – Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.

 

The family soon left Kensington Palace and traveled to their home on the Sandringham Estate, Anmer Hall. On July 5, 2015, Princess Charlotte was christened by the Archbishop of Canterbury at St. Mary Magdalene’s Church, Sandringham. The private service was attended only by immediate family, and Charlotte’s five godparents:

• The Honorable Laura Fellowes (maternal first cousin of her father)
• Adam Middleton (paternal first cousin of his mother)
• Thomas van Straubenzee (a close friend)
• James Meade (a close friend)
• Sophie Carter (a close friend)

 

For her christening, Princess Charlotte wore the Royal Christening Gown which was made in 2008. It is an exact replica of the gown first used for the christening of Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter, Victoria, in 1841, and was used for all royal christenings since. The last to use the original gown was Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, daughter of the Earl and Countess of Wessex in 2004. Also dating back to 1841, the Lily Font was used for Charlotte’s christening, with water from the River Jordan.  Following the christening, The Queen hosted a reception at Sandringham House.

On May 20, 2017, Princess Charlotte was a bridesmaid at the wedding of her aunt Pippa Middleton and James Matthews.

On January 8, 2018, Charlotte began attending the Willcocks Nursery School, close to her Kensington Palace home. Princess Charlotte became a big sister on April 23, 2018, when her younger brother Prince Louis was born.  Charlotte joined her brother George at Thomas’s Battersea School on Battersea High Street in London in September 2019.

Princess Charlotte on her first day of nursery school; Photo taken by The Duchess of Cambridge

In 2018, Princess Charlotte was a bridesmaid in two royal weddings – the wedding of her uncle Prince Harry to Meghan Markle and the wedding of her first cousin once removed Princess Eugenie of York to Jack Brooksbank.

Charlotte occasionally accompanies his parents on royal tours and engagements. On June 2, 2022, during her great-grandmother’s Platinum Jubilee celebration weekend, Charlotte and her siblings made their debut in the Trooping the Colour carriage procession.

All three Cambridge children then joined their parents, Queen Elizabeth II, and other working royals on the Buckingham Palace balcony.

William and Catherine with their children on the Buckingham Palace balcony during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022

In the summer of 2022, Charlotte and her family moved to Adelaide Cottage, a four-bedroom house on the grounds of Windsor Castle in Berkshire, England. The move was made to give Charlotte and her siblings a more normal family life. In the fall of 2022, Charlotte and her siblings began attending Lambrook School, a prestigious fee-paying school in Winkfield, near Windsor. The school is described on its website as a “leading coeducational Prep School for 615 boys and girls aged 3 and 13, set in 52 acres of beautiful Berkshire countryside.” Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis will not be the first royals who attended Lambrook School. Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-Holstein and his brother Prince Albert of Schleswig-Holstein, grandsons of Queen Victoria and sons of Princess Helena and Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, also attended Lambrook School.

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