A WHOLE LOTTE OF FUN

THE Queen celebrated her 90th birthday yesterday but it was great granddaughter Princess Charlotte who stole the show.

The royal tot made only her third public appearance, joining her relatives on the balcony at Buckingham Palace as they watched soldiers Trooping the Colour.

At 13 months old, Charlotte is almost the same age that her “Gan-Gan” the Queen was when she first appeared on the same balcony as a baby 89 years ago, in June 1927. Charlotte has only been seen in front of the TV cameras twice before – on the hospital steps on the day she was born and at her FRANCESCA ROBBINS christening 11 months ago. The Queen, Prince Philip, Prince Harry and Charlotte’s parents the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge joined crowds at St Paul’s Cathedral for a service of thanksgiving for the monarch’s life.

They were then treated to a fly-past by the RAF. Kate looked chic in an Alexander McQueen coat, and held her daughter, who wore a pale pink dress that matched the rose in her mother’s hat.

To round off the day’s events, a fly-past of military aircraft including a Spitfire and a Hurricane thundered overhead, as the young Princess screwed up her eyes and covered one of her ears with her hand. The display ended with the Red Arrows air display team trailing red, white and blue smoke across the capital.

Prince George, who is three next month, had to stand on a small step so he could see over the top of the balcony and was spotted saluting the historic aircraft.

One familiar face among the Household Cavalry band was this year’s Britain’s Got Talent winner, magician Richard Jones, who played the trombone on horseback. But it wasn’t all fun for the guardsmen as one fainted due to the heat.