Day Kate’s two cuties showed they’re right royal little characters
THANK goodness the Queen chose that neon green ensemble for her official birthday celebrations on Saturday. Otherwise, she might have been completely eclipsed by Prince George and Princess Charlotte.
The minute they emerged, blinking, onto the royal balcony, the cheeky, chubby toddlers stole the show.
First, George, an old hand at balcony protocol, grinned and saluted and then (perhaps in protest at being made to wear the rather girly handme-down outfit his dad wore to Harry’s christening back in 1984) tried climbing up the balustrade, before being restrained by several tight-lipped royals.
Then, making her balcony debut, 13-month-old Princess Charlotte took over. Charlotte is not the type to be daunted by thousands of well-wishers, nor a flight of Red Arrows roaring through the sky in perfect formation.
Or even the rather arresting outfit worn by ‘Gan-Gan’.
The princess didn’t moan about missing her lovely lunchtime nap or the ennui of never-ending teething, or even make a fuss at all the noise.
No, she’s made of far sterner stuff. So Charlotte simply chewed her fingers, pulled Kate’s necklace a couple of times and then — like mother, like daughter — gave a lovely smile and a faultless royal wave.
As the Duchess of Cambridge revealed last week: ‘Oh, she is very cute, but she has got quite a feisty side.’ She’ll need one.
For however fiercely William and Kate protect their children, however much they put family before official duties and insist they have the safe, secure, settled and, above all, private childhood that William never had, life as a royal is not for sissies.
On top of all that, Charlotte has a big brother to deal with — 21 months older with bundles of energy and a penchant for football, the great outdoors and keeping his parents on their toes.
From birth, the two children were startlingly different.
After a difficult pregnancy, George, born on July 22, 2013, was a tricky baby who slept terribly, fussed endlessly, was described as ‘noisy’ and ‘a little monkey’ and ran Kate and Wills ragged as they adapted to the shock and sleeplessness of new parenthood. Charlotte, meanwhile, popped out in a trice (a two-and-ahalf hour labour with no epidural) on May 2, 2015, and was a perfect baby.
She slept like an angel snuggled up to Fuddlewuddle (her cuddly toy puppy), smiled on demand and laughed when Lupo the family cocker spaniel licked her face and stole her rice cakes.
Nothing seemed to faze her. Not the pomp and fuss of a Sandringham christening just as she was settling into a nice routine, aged two months, or the family ski holiday to Courchevel when she’d started teething.
Not even posing on Gan-Gan’s knee for a family portrait to mark the Queen’s birthday as celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz clicked and snapped.
BuT lately, things have been changing. George, now attending a Montessori nursery in Norfolk, is still energetic and bouncy and occasionally described as a ‘little ruffian’ by his father. Yet he is also kind, good and, according to Kate, a ‘really lovely little boy’ who is happiest feeding the animals at the Bucklebury petting zoo or cuddled up being read his favourite book, The Gruffalo.
Charlotte, meanwhile — behind that gorgeous smiley face and the endless baby pink outfits picked out by the children’s highly trained Spanish Norland nanny, Maria Teresa Borrallo, 45 — has been developing a rather more steely side.
The princess is physically tough. She was pushing a baby walker around the grounds of ten-bedroom Anmer Hall in Norfolk before she was one and, according to William, already loves kicking a football about.
Last week, Kate said she hoped that George would ‘keep Charlotte in order’.
Some royal experts liken the Duchess of Cambridge to the Queen Mother, who was known as Steel
Marshmallow: soft on the outside and hard inside. While George is the spit of William, Charlotte sounds very much her mother’s daughter.
The Queen is said to dote on the little girl and showers her with presents when they come to stay — perhaps because she reminds her of her own rather feisty daughter, Princess Anne.
Anne certainly gave Prince Charles a run for his money when they were children. Though 21 months younger, she bullied her brother relentlessly, raging until he shared his toys, on one occasion punching him with toy boxing gloves — and on another, attacking him with a riding crop.
Sibling rivalry affects pretty much everyone, but it sounds worse in the royal household: often, one’s the heir and one’s the spare, so the division can feel even more marked for the second sibling. As Princess Anne put it: ‘You start off in life very much a tail-end Charlie, at the back of the line.’
William himself was a nightmare when Harry was born 27 months after him. He became boisterous and demanding, raged and threw food in protest at being usurped.
As boys, they fought endlessly and William regularly beat up Harry, though he protected him fiercely from others. Today, the princes are the very best of friends.
Conversely, George reportedly coped brilliantly when Charlotte came along and — other than the occasional swipe — he seems pretty happy about her barging in and ruining all that lovely undivided attention.
The real test will be what happens if, or rather when — the informed money is on as early as next year — Kate and William try for their third child.
While George will no doubt adapt seamlessly to any new addition, it’s safe to say gorgeous, feisty Charlotte might feel rather differently.
But even a disgruntled older sister can learn to adapt — so who’s to say that, in a couple of years, another enchanting little face won’t be making its debut on the royal balcony?