William’s Adorable Shares About His Daughter Charlotte: A Personality Girl & Somewhat Feisty

Inside Prince William’s Relationship With His Daughter Charlotte

As the middle child of William and Catherine (Kate) Middleton, Prince and Princess of Wales, the young Princess Charlotte holds a unique place in the family. She’s third in line to the throne after her brother, Prince George, and the first princess in British royal history whose place in the line of succession wasn’t displaced with the birth of a younger brother; Prince Louis is fourth in line to the throne thanks to the Succession to the Crown Act which eliminated the precedence previously given to male heirs. Princess Charlotte is part of a new era of royals that is more progressive and feminist than previous generations, and she’s already embodying the idea of girl power.

As the only daughter of the heir to the British crown, the public has been fascinated by Princess Charlotte since she was born. She’s a tomboy and a trendsetter, and royal watchers all over the globe adore the little princess. Of course, the love the public has for her is unmatched by the love the royal’s parents have for her. Princess Charlotte’s dad may be busy with royal duties, but he also prioritizes his three children and has made it clear that his only daughter has him wrapped around her little finger.

Prince William was ‘very happy’ to add Charlotte to the family

Princess Charlotte has been breaking ground since she was born. Her parents announced her birth on their Twitter account, which was only a few months old at the time. “Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge was safely delivered of a daughter at 8.34am,” read the tweet, posted on May 2, 2015. Before this, royal baby announcements were made by posting an easel with the news outside of Buckingham Palace. While the tradition is still followed, Twitter certainly gets the news out faster.

Though Prince William didn’t spend much time talking to the press after Charlotte was born, it was clear that he was happy to be a girl-dad. When reporters spotted him outside St. Mary’s hospital and asked how he felt about the new addition to the family, William said he was “very happy” (via The Guardian).

Though William was happy to welcome his daughter, the responsibility of being a dad of two is a weight he felt in the months leading up to her birth. “They say that number one is a life changer and that number two is a game-changer,” he told a crowd during a walkabout a few weeks before Princess Charlotte’s arrival (via People).

Prince William’s mother is remembered in Charlotte’s full name

As the only daughter of the heir to the British throne, Princess Charlotte has drawn many comparisons to her grandmother, Princess Diana, over the years. William’s mother, who was born Diana Frances Spencer, died nearly 20 years before Charlotte was born, and losing his mother as an adolescent is something that has profoundly impacted William. “I still feel, 20 years later about my mother, I still have shock within me,” he said in the 2017 documentary “Mind Over Marathon” (via Newsweek). “You know, 20 years later. People go ‘shock can’t last that long’ but it does. You never get over it. It is such an unbelievably big moment in your life that it never leaves you. You just learn to deal with it.”

William is committed to honoring his mother’s legacy and has made sure that his children know about her, revealing in the ITV documentary (via the Evening Standard) that he is “Constantly talking about granny Diana, so we’ve got more photos up round the house now of her and we talk about her a bit and stuff.”

One of the most touching ways Prince William has honored Diana’s memory is by naming his daughter after her; the princess’s full name is Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.

Prince William wasn’t prepared for having a girl in the family

The Prince and Princess of Wales reportedly did not find out the sex of baby Charlotte ahead of her birth, so William didn’t have much time to adjust to the idea of raising a girl. In a 2016 appearance on the Vietnamese talk show “Talk Vietnam,” William spoke about how much he loved his children, although he admitted that adjusting to parenthood wasn’t easy. “I’ve struggled at times,” he confessed. “The alteration from being a single, independent man to going into marriage and then having children is life-changing.”

Prince William said his wife was a great support to him, and the presence of a woman in his family was no doubt even more helpful after Princess Charlotte was born. William explained that, as he only grew up with a brother, he didn’t have much experience with little girls. “Bear in mind I haven’t had a sister, so having a daughter is a very different dynamic,” he said. “So I’m learning about having a daughter, having a girl in the family.”

Prince William said Charlotte was ‘very easy, very sweet’ as a baby

Princess Charlotte and Prince George gave their dad a bit of a headache when they were younger. While we’re sure that Prince William loved becoming a newly minted father of two, having two young children at home posed a challenge — especially once both kids were old enough to cause some trouble. In an appearance at the Welsh Rugby Charitable Trust in 2016, William said (via ABC), “No broken bones yet but they’re trying. Running around, pushing things, jumping. Please tell me it gets easier.”

William may have been exaggerating a little bit, at least on the part of Charlotte, who was just 10 months old at the time — not old enough to be running around and jumping (although George, who was just a few months shy of 3, could have been wreaking havoc).

The Prince of Wales went on to paint a much better-behaved version of his daughter, saying, “Charlotte is very easy, very sweet but all the fathers say, ‘Just you wait. When they get to 9, 10, 11, they go crazy.’ I’m looking forward to it. There will be some drama.”

Prince William once called a 3-year-old Charlotte ‘trouble’

Prince William wants Charlotte to be in touch with her feelings