New Photos Released of Charlotte for Her 8th Birthday, Plus Some of Our Favourite Snaps of the Young Princess Over the Years

Princess Charlotte, taken in Windsor this weekend by her mother, the Princess of Wales, ahead of her eighth birthday on Tuesday May 2, 2023.  Photo: The Princess of Wales via AP/Canadian Press

William and Catherine, the Prince and Princess of Wales, have shared sweet new photos of their daughter, Princess Charlotte, in honour of her 8th birthday today. The most recent photo, released on their official Twitter account, shows Charlotte hugging the family’s black cocker spaniel, Orla. Surrounded by daffodils, she is pictured wearing a blue and white knitted jumper. The photo was captured by Millie Pilkington, William and Kate’s private photographer from their wedding in 2011.

 

An earlier photo was also shared via the Prince and Princess’ official official Twitter account, saying,“Wishing Princess Charlotte a very happy birthday! 8 tomorrow,” alongside a balloon and birthday cake emoji.

This portrait, captured by Kate, was snapped in Windsor this weekend, Kensington Palace said in a statement. The young princess is wearing a frilly white frock with pink and blue flowers.

Charlotte’s birthday celebration comes just days before the coronation of her grandfather, King Charles III. While her older brother, Prince George, 9 will be a Page of Honour at the King’s Coronation, Charlotte has reportedly been tapped for a more unofficial role: watching after her cheeky five-year-old brother Prince Louis, as they take part in the procession from Westminster Abbey. The children are later expected to appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

Birthday photos of the Cambridge kids have become a much-anticipated tradition among royal watchers. A talented amateur photographer, Kate is also patron of the Royal Photographic Society, a role previously held by the Queen for 67 years.

Charlotte is a great-granddaughter of the late Queen Elizabeth II. She is third in line to the throne, behind her father William and brother George.

 

Album: Photos of Princess Charlotte Over the Years

 

Princess Charlotte
This photo taken during the weekend by Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and released on Sunday, shows Princess Charlotte, whose seventh birthday is on Monday, May 2, in Norfolk, England. Photo: Duchess of Cambridge via AP/Canadian Press
Prince Charlotte
Photo: Duchess of Cambridge via AP/Canadian Press

 

Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge have shared a series of new photos of their daughter, Princess Charlotte, in honour of her seventh birthday today. The portraits, captured by the duchess, were taken at Anmer Hall, the family’s country home in Norfolk.

In the sweet snaps, Charlotte — who is wearing a cornflower blue cable-knit sweater by Ralph Lauren  — is all smiles as she sits in a meadow among spring bluebells. In one, she hugs the family’s beloved black cocker spaniel, Orla. The pup, whose name wasn’t revealed until now, joined the family in 2020 and was a gift from Kate’s brother, James Middleton.

Royal Birthday Tributes

 

Queen Elizabeth, as well as Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, took to social media to wish Charlotte a happy Birthday.

Reposting the new photos, Her Majesty’s caption read: “Happy Birthday, Princess Charlotte!”, while Charles and Camilla wrote “Happy birthday to Princess Charlotte – 7 years today!”

 

 

Charlotte’s birthday celebration comes just days after her parents celebrated their 11th wedding anniversary on Friday.

Birthday photos of the Cambridge kids have become a much-anticipated tradition among royal watchers. A talented amateur photographer, Kate is also patron of the Royal Photographic Society, a role previously held by the Queen for 67 years. Recently, the duchess also channeled her passion for photography into Hold Still, a book of 100 portraits submitted by Britons documenting life during the coronavirus pandemic.

Charlotte is a great-granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II. She is fourth in line to the throne, behind her grandfather Charles, father William and older brother George.

With the birth of her younger brother, Prince Louis, in 2018, the young princess became the first female royal in history to keep her rank in succession, instead of dropping back a place behind a younger brother. This was due to a change of succession laws in the U.K. that were updated shortly before the birth of Prince George in 2013, which would allow for a first-born daughter to take precedence over any younger brothers. This decision changed a 300-year rule that the heir to the throne would only pass to a daughter in the complete absence of sons.

 

Princess Charlotte poses in a photo taken by her mother, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge in Norfolk, for her sixth birthday on Sunday, May 2, 2021. Photo: Duchess of Cambridge via Getty Images

 

The sweet sixth birthday portrait was released soon after Kate and William’s milestone 10th wedding anniversary, when they shared a never-before-seen family home video of Charlotte, along with her brothers George and Louis, as they went on a nature hike in Norfolk. The video, shot by Will Warr, was filmed in the autumn of 2020.

Charlotte, with her usual spirit, is seen playfully wrestling with her father and running with her siblings, with playtime including a segment of the princess with baby brother Louis on a teeter totter. The clip ends with the royal brood roasting marshmallows at a bonfire.

 

 

For her fifth birthday, the palace shared photos of Charlotte and her siblings delivering homemade pasta and bags of groceries to retirees living in COVID lockdown near the family’s Sandringham estate. In this series of portraits, she is wearing a blue and white houndstooth dress from Zara.

 

Princess Charlotte turns 5, Instagram photo

 

 

Also in honour of Charlotte’s fifth birthday, Queen Elizabeth shared a stunning family portrait taken by famed photographer Annie Lebovitz for the Queen’s 90th birthday, in April 2016. Charlotte, who is the Queen’s fifth great-grandchild, is seated in Her Majesty’s lap.

 

Other images show the young royal with Prince Philip at Trooping the Colour in 2017, and the princess as a flower girl at Princess Eugenie’s wedding on Oct. 12, 2018.

 

For her fourth birthday, the palace shared this adorable photo of Charlotte, who clearly loves the country life, at their home in Norfolk.

 

Royals: Charlotte's 6th birthday
Photo: Instagram/kensingtonroyal

 

And pretty in pink for her third birthday …

Royals: Charlotte's 6th birthday
Photo: Instagram/kensingtonroyal

 

 

Charlotte's 6th
A handout picture released by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on May 1, 2017, and taken by the duchess to mark Princess Charlotte’s second birthday, shows the young princess at Anmer Hall in Norfolk, April, 2017. Photo: The Duchess of Cambridge/AFP/Getty Images

 

When she was just 16 months old, the princess travelled to Canada with her parents and brother,  Prince George, 3, in September 2016, on a whirlwind eight-day tour to British Columbia and Yukon. During a tea party event staged for the children in Victoria, the young princess reportedly said her first word in public. She was overheard yelling “pop” as she chased a balloon in the garden of B.C.’s Garden House. (For more on our coverage of the Royal Canada Tour 2016, go here.)

 

 

Princess Charlotte of Cambridge attends a children’s party for military families during the Royal Tour of Canada, Victoria, Sept. 29, 2016. Photo: Pool/Sam Hussein/WireImage

 

 

 

 

Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Cambridge was born on May 2, 2015 at St. Mary’s Hospital in central London. Her full name is Charlotte Elizabeth Diana in tribute to her great-grandmother, the Queen, and her paternal grandmother, the late Diana, Princess of Wales.