If you’ve been hanging out with us at Marie Claire and following our royals coverage (and we certainly hope you have been and will continue to), you know that we are big supporters of the “Charlotte in charge” way of life, where eight-year-old Princess Charlotte—the middle child and only daughter of the Prince and Princess of Wales—runs the show. She may be a young princess, but to her brothers (older brother Prince George and younger brother Prince Louis), she is the queen, often telling them what to do, where to stand or not stand, and correcting them if they make a mistake.
While George and Charlotte are close, Charlotte is “super protective” of little brother Louis, who, um, has been known to get up to some mischief from time to time. Last Friday, while at their mom’s “Together at Christmas” carol concert at Westminster Abbey, Louis playfully blew out Charlotte’s candle; this time, instead of correcting him, sweet Charlotte just laughed.
People calls Charlotte a “doting big sister” to Louis, and the two have always shared a special bond and closeness. “It’s so sweet seeing the three of them together, and particularly Charlotte being super protective of her little brother,” said Sophie Mirman, founder of the British childrenswear brand Trotters. (She added that, for his Christmas carol concert debut last week, five-year-old Louis “looked so grown up” in the brand’s “little pea coat and Chelsea boots.”)
The older sister-little brother bond goes all the way back to Louis’ birth in April 2018; he was born just nine days before Charlotte turned three years old. In a photo released by William and Kate for her third birthday, she’s pictured cradling baby Louis in her lap and placing a sweet kiss on her sleeping brother’s head.
Later in 2018, in portraits from Louis’ christening, everyone else is looking at the camera and smiling, but Charlotte? The proud big sister only has eyes for Louis, as she lovingly gazes at him and holds his hand.
Flash forward to the present day, and Louis loves to copy Charlotte’s every move. In 2021, William revealed that his family of five loves to play music in the morning, and the three kids dance around the house. “Charlotte, particularly, is running around the kitchen in her dresses and ballet stuff and everything,” he said. “She goes completely crazy with Louis following her around trying to do the same thing.”
Charlotte, like she does for George, is keen to make sure Louis follows royal protocol while on royal outings. “Louis is a cheeky monkey—a typical third child,” someone who knows the family told People. “It’s nice that the world [gets] to see him enjoying himself.”
While at the Wales family Christmas card photoshoot, Charlotte became the focus of the shot, and Mirman said the family’s looks (white shirts, jeans or dark trousers—a departure from carefree family summer vacation photos they’ve shared in years past) are “a very different look, it’s very of the moment.” Mirman added “I think it’s reflective. There’s so much going on in the world—I think possibly there was a nod to that in its simplicity. It wasn’t excessive. It was constrained, but in a nice way. They just looked like normal children, not dressed up, just very simple.”
Originally Charlotte and Louis were to be seated together on the chair, but Charlotte took center stage solo ultimately. Photographer Josh Shinner said the shoot was “Without a doubt one of the most relaxed and enjoyable sittings I’ve ever had, and I now have a whole new set of jokes that are right on my level thanks to the children,” he said, per People. When a commenter on social media asked about the kids’ funniest joke, Shinner demurred: “Keeping those to myself I’m afraid!” he said.
While volunteering during the Coronation weekend of their grandfather, King Charles, Charlotte showed another example of her propensity to take the lead and help Louis: “She was advising him, ‘Don’t do that, Louis!’—things like that,” fellow volunteer Anne Edwards said back in May, adding it was sweet to see the Wales trio so excited about volunteering. “They were very relaxed and joining in, like normal kids. That was what was really nice about it.”
