Princess Charlotte of Cambridge

Princess Charlotte of Cambridge (Charlotte Elizabeth Diana; born 2 May 2015) is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. She is fourth in the line of succession to the British throne.

Princess Charlotte
Princess Charlotte in 2019
Born	2 May 2015 St Mary's Hospital, London, England
Full name Charlotte Elizabeth Diana Mountbatten-Windsor[fn 1]
House	Windsor
Father	Prince William, Duke of Cambridge
Mother	Catherine Middleton

Birth and christening

Princess Charlotte, the second child of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, was born at 08:34 BST on 2 May 2015 in Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital, London.[2] Several landmarks were illuminated pink to mark her birth, including Tower Bridge, the London Eye, and the Trafalgar Square fountains;[3] there were also gun salutes at Hyde Park and the Tower of London.[4] On 4 May, her name was announced as Charlotte Elizabeth Diana,[5] honouring her great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth II and grandmother Diana, Princess of Wales.[6][7] She has been affectionately called "Lottie" and "Mignonette" by her parents.[8][9]

On 5 July 2015, Princess Charlotte was christened by the Archbishop of Canterbury at St Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham, the same church where her paternal grandmother was christened in 1961. Her godparents are her parents' cousins Laura Fellowes and Adam Middleton, and family friends Thomas van Straubenzee, James Meade, and Sophie Carter.[10] Princess Charlotte wore the royal christening gown, and the ceremony used the Lily Font, which was made for Princess Victoria.[10]

Education

Charlotte started her education at the Willcocks Nursery School, near her family's home in Kensington Palace, in January 2018.[11] She joined her brother Prince George at Thomas's School in Battersea in September 2019, where she is known as Charlotte Cambridge.[12]

Official appearances

On 11 June 2016, she made her first public appearance, which was on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during Trooping the Colour.[13] She accompanied her parents and brother, George, on their royal tour of Canada in September 2016[14] and on their diplomatic visit to Poland and Germany in July 2017.[15] In March 2020, she joined her siblings, George and Louis, in an online video to applaud key workers during the coronavirus pandemic.[16] In September 2020, they met David Attenborough; Kensington Palace subsequently released a video of them asking Attenborough questions regarding environmental conservation.[17][18] In December 2020, the children made their first red carpet appearance accompanying their parents to the London Palladium for a performance of a pantomime held to thank key worker for their efforts during the pandemic.[19][20][21]

In the media

Despite the efforts of her parents to shelter their children from the press,[22] each photograph or public appearance of Charlotte has caused a media frenzy.[23] According to shopping statistics and polls among parents, Charlotte is a major children's style icon. Retailers, particularly in clothing, benefit greatly from their products appearing in photographs of the Princess. The phenomenon has been referred to as the "Princess Charlotte effect" or "Charlotte effect".[23][24][25] Brand Finance have estimated that she will be worth more than £3 billion to the British economy throughout her lifetime.[23] In July 2018, Reader's Digest valued her at $5 billion or £3.8 billion.[26]

Title, style and succession

Charlotte is, by birth, a princess of the United Kingdom entitled to the style of Royal Highness under letters patent issued by Queen Elizabeth II on 31 December 2012, which gave the title and style to all children of the Prince of Wales's elder son.[27][28] She is thus styled "Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Cambridge".[6]

Charlotte is fourth in the line of succession to the British throne, after her grandfather, father, and elder brother.[29][30] Due to the implementation of the Perth Agreement, which replaced male-preference primogeniture with absolute primogeniture, she did not move down the line of succession when her younger brother, Prince Louis of Cambridge, was born on 23 April 2018; this makes her the first British princess to rank above a brother in the line of succession.[31]

See also

• Family tree of the British royal family
• List of living British princes and princesses

Notes

1. British princesses such as Charlotte do not normally use a surname. When needed, the surname for male-line descendants of Elizabeth II is usually Mountbatten-Windsor.[1]

References

1. "The Royal Family name". The Official Website of the British Monarchy. The Royal Household. Archived from the original on 15 February 2009. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
2. "Royal baby: William and Kate present daughter to the world". BBC News. 2 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
3. "Royal baby: Princess's first night at Kensington Palace". BBC News. 3 May 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
4. "Royal baby: London gun salutes mark birth of princess". BBC News. 4 May 2015. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
5. "The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge name their baby" (Press release). Clarence House. 4 May 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
6. "Royal princess named Charlotte Elizabeth Diana". BBC. London. 4 May 2015. Archived from the original on 7 May 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
7. "Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana: why William and Kate made their name choices for royal baby". The Daily Telegraph. London. 4 May 2015. Archived from the original on 6 May 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
8. Ledbetter, Carly (23 May 2019). "Prince William Has The Sweetest French Nickname For Princess Charlotte". HuffPost. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
9. Duboff, Josh. "Like Her Brother, Princess Charlotte Has a Fun Nickname". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
10. "Princess Charlotte is christened at a Sandringham church". BBC News. 5 July 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
11. "Princess Charlotte to start nursery school in January". BBC. 18 December 2017. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
12. Napoli, Jessica (24 May 2019). "Princess Charlotte to attend same school as brother Prince George". Fox News. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
13. "Princess Charlotte makes her balcony debut at Trooping the Colour – AOL Lifestyle". Aol.com. 11 June 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
14. Canada (1 October 2016). "Prince William, Kate and children bid farewell to Canada as royal tour ends". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
15. Hunt, Peter (17 July 2017). "George and Charlotte join Poland and Germany diplomacy tour". BBC. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
16. Young, Sarah (27 March 2020). "Clap for our carers: Harry and Meghan join Prince George, Charlotte and Louis in applause for NHS workers". The Independent. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
17. "Royal children quiz Sir David Attenborough". BBC News. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
18. Taylor, Elise (3 October 2020). "The Cambridge Kids Have Some Adorable Questions for Sir David Attenborough". Vogue. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
19. "Prince William and Kate make red carpet debut with royal children". BBC News. 11 December 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
20. Foussianes, Chloe (11 December 2020). "Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis Make Surprise Appearance at the London Palladium". Town & Country. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
21. Jones, Tony; Rowlands, Robert (12 December 2020). "Adorable photo as William and Kate take kids to Christmas panto". CambridgeshireLive. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
22. Hunt, Peter (29 September 2016). "Prince George and Princess Charlotte in Canada play day". BBC News. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
23. Spedding, Emma (1 May 2016). "The Princess Charlotte Effect: inside the clothing frenzy caused by a Royal one-year-old". The Telegraph. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
24. Proudfoot, Jenny (21 August 2019). "Here's why Princess Charlotte is worth more than her brothers". Marie Claire. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
25. Taylor, Elyse (24 July 2018). "This is why Princess Charlotte is worth billions more than her brothers Prince George and Prince Louis". Vogue Australia. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
26. "Princess Charlotte is worth a billion dollars more than Prince George", by Markeeta Waddington, Nine.com.au
27. "No. 60384". The London Gazette. 8 January 2013. p. 213.
28. "Royal baby girl 'would be princess'". BBC News. 9 January 2013. Retrieved 6 July 2013.
29. "The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expecting their second child" (Press release). Clarence House. 8 September 2014. Archived from the original on 8 September 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
30. "Duchess of Cambridge pregnant with second child". BBC News. 8 September 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
31. "Royal baby: Duchess of Cambridge gives birth to new prince". BBC News. 23 April 2018. Retrieved 23 April 2018.

External links

• Princess Charlotte of Cambridge at the Royal Family website
• Princess Charlotte of Cambridge at IMDb