Princess Charlotte mirrors late Princess Diana in striking Trooping the Colour photos
Charlotte and Diana share not just looks but also a kindness that those around them have noted
A photograph of Princess Charlotte at Trooping the Colour in 2016 has resurfaced ahead of this year's parade on 13 June, drawing renewed attention to her striking resemblance to her late grandmother Princess Diana — right down to the dress, the expression, and the frown.
The comparison, first noted when the image circulated widely, places Charlotte's bewildered reaction to the flypast during Queen Elizabeth II's 90th birthday celebrations at Buckingham Palace alongside a photograph of Diana on her first birthday in 1962, taken at Park House, Sandringham.
Same dress, same frown, half a century apart
Charlotte, who had just turned one the month before the 2016 parade, was seen nestled close to her mother, the Princess of Wales, on the Buckingham Palace balcony. Her scrunched nose and tiny frown as the noisy flypast took place drew an immediate comparison to a photograph of Diana, who wore an almost identical white puff-sleeve dress, her blonde hair in loose curls, with her hand raised to her face as she frowned at the camera on her first birthday.
Charlotte wore a bubblegum-pink puff-sleeve dress of her own, her slightly darker blonde hair clipped back with a baby pink bow — the only marked difference between the two images.
2018 Christmas card sparked earlier comparisons
This was not the first time the resemblance between Charlotte and Diana had been widely remarked upon. The Wales family's 2018 Christmas card featured a three-year-old Charlotte with a knowing look directed straight at the camera — an expression that bore a close likeness to a photograph of Diana taken in July 1970, when she was pictured on her ninth birthday while on holiday in Itchenor, West Sussex.
Kind-hearted, just like Diana
The parallels between Charlotte and her late grandmother extend beyond appearance. Sources told HELLO! that when Charlotte first joined Lambrook School, she settled in effortlessly and quickly became a favourite among her peers. "Charlotte is so kind and friendly and the other children adore her. She's kind to the kids in younger years and she's very popular," they said — a disposition that closely echoes the warmth Diana was celebrated for throughout her life.
