Spring is a pretty busy time for the royal family. In the space of less than two weeks, they've celebrated Prince Louis' first birthday, William and Kate's eighth wedding anniversary, and now today it's Princess Charlotte's fourth birthday. Then you throw into the mix the fact that Meghan and Harry's first baby is due any moment, plus it's their first wedding anniversary in a couple of weeks, and we can all-but assume the royals are doing The Card Factory out of their entire celebratory balloon stock.
But back to Princess Charlotte. She's four today, which is absolutely ridiculous because it means she'll be starting school this year, even though it seems like just minutes ago that she appeared, sleeping in her mum's arms, for the first time on the steps of the Lindo Wing at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington.
In typical 'Cambridge' style, Prince William and Kate Middleton have released a series of photographs of the young princess, taken by Kate herself. And there's no denying Charlotte is super cute, just like her baby brother Louis.
Kensington Palace posted the three pictures on their Instagram and Twitter accounts, writing: "The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to share three new photographs of Princess Charlotte ahead of her fourth birthday.
"The photographs were taken in April by The Duchess at Kensington Palace and at their home in Norfolk."
In one of the pictures, Charlotte is seen sitting in the grass, wearing a blue floral dress and smiling directly into the camera. In another, she is holding a flower as she runs through the gardens. What a picture perfect little family William and Kate have got going on there.
There's a chance next year Princess Charlotte might be sharing her birthday next year with another little royal, her cousin Baby Sussex. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's first child was thought to have been due over the weekend, meaning it could be born at any time soon, and the world (okay, me) is on tenterhooks waiting for news of its arrival.
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What a birthday present that would be for Charlotte, a baby cousin to play with! If not, some Peppa Pig merch will probably do.
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12 adorable pictures of Princess Charlotte waving to the public
Cat is Cosmopolitan UK's features editor covering women's issues, health and current affairs. news, features and health. The route to her heart is a simple combination of pasta and cheese (somewhat ironic considering the whole health writing thing), and she finds it difficult to commit to TV series so currently has about 14 different ones on the go.
