A beautiful new portrait of Princess Charlotte has been released by the Prince and Princess of Wales to celebrate her 11th birthday — and royal fans are already saying the young royal is growing up “so fast.”
The sweet image, shared on the official social media pages of Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, shows Princess Charlotte of Wales smiling brightly while surrounded by nature during the family’s recent Easter getaway to Cornwall.
Dressed casually in a striped blue, black and red jumper with jeans, Charlotte appeared relaxed and happy as she posed among flowers and trees in the candid outdoor snap, which was taken by trusted royal photographer Matt Porteous.
Alongside the touching image, the Prince and Princess of Wales wrote: “Wishing Charlotte a very happy 11th birthday!” followed by a birthday cake emoji.
Royal fans immediately flooded social media with comments about how much Charlotte now resembles her father, with many calling her “William’s mini-me.” Others pointed out that while she shares Prince William’s facial features, her long flowing hair strongly mirrors her mother Kate.
The portrait also highlighted Charlotte’s growing love of the outdoors — something royal followers have noticed more and more in recent birthday pictures. Last year’s image showed the princess windswept and grinning during another nature-filled moment with her mother.
The release comes just days after William and Kate celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary by sharing another intimate family photo from the same Cornwall holiday. In that picture, Charlotte was seen smiling beside her younger brother Prince Louis of Wales and her mother while relaxing outdoors in the sunshine.
Fans also spotted a subtle detail connecting both photos — Charlotte appeared to be wearing the same ivy blue nail varnish in each image.
At only 11 years old, Charlotte has already become one of the most talked-about young royals thanks to her confident public appearances and natural composure during royal events.
As the third in line to the throne, many royal watchers believe she could one day follow in the footsteps of Anne, Princess Royal and become a hugely important figure within the Royal Family.
Born in 2015 at the Lindo Wing in London, Charlotte made royal history as the first British princess to remain ahead of a younger brother in the line of succession after rules were changed in 2013.
Despite her royal role, William and Kate have continued trying to give Charlotte as normal a childhood as possible. She attends Lambrook School privately and has largely been shielded from constant public attention.
When speaking about their daughter in recent years, her parents have described a lively and independent young girl who loves ballet, Taylor Swift and making friendship bracelets.
Princess Charlotte has even earned a reputation inside royal circles as the family’s “boss,” with royal historian Marlene Koenig previously claiming that “Charlotte rules the roost” at Adelaide Cottage.
Last year, Prince William also revealed that his daughter made him shave off his beard after she admitted she didn’t approve of it.
Charlotte’s most recent public appearance came on Easter Sunday, when she joined senior royals at St George’s Chapel in Windsor alongside her parents and brothers.
She was seen holding hands with her mother in a sweet mother-daughter moment while the pair wore coordinated outfits — once again proving why Charlotte continues to charm royal fans across Britain.
