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Footage of Princess Charlotte, released to celebrate her 11th birthday, may have delighted fans but, behind the scenes, Prince William and his wife Kate reportedly hold fears for their young daughter.
Video footage shared to Instagram on May 2 showed Charlotte happily playing with the family’s pet dogs, as well as bowling for a game of cricket – likely with her brother Prince Louis – on the beach during the Wales’ Easter holiday to Cornwall.
A separate portrait – taken by photographer Matt Porteous – showed Charlotte beaming at the camera in a striped jumper and jeans, wearing her long brunette hair loose.
“Wishing Charlotte a very happy 11th birthday!” a simple post beside the snap said.
The images racked up more than half a million likes each, within mere hours of being posted – but privately it’s reported that Kate and William are concerned by the level of online interest in their only daughter.
Sources tell Woman’s Day the couple have been “taken aback” by the intense “somewhat obsessive” interest online in Charlotte for her birthday.
“William and Kate are genuinely uncomfortable about ‘Charlotte mania’ and the huge following she’s getting,” says an insider. “But it may be too late to stop it.”
Plus, it’s claimed that the young Princess has no interest in being hidden from social media like her cousins over in California – Harry and Meghan’s children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
“Charlotte’s doing everything [Kate and William] asked her – to be kind, gracious and well-behaved, to absolute perfection – and it’s working,” the source tells Woman’s Day.
“She’s not going to let her folks start ‘hiding her away’, but Kate’s worried about the enormous pressure she’s taking on – she’s not even a teenager yet!”
Indeed, it’s perhaps no surprise that Kate and William are mindful of the exposure Charlotte is getting at such a tender age.
Over in the Netherlands, just days before Charlotte’s birthday, a man was detained in connection with an alleged plot to attack Dutch royals Princess Catharina-Amalia, 22, and Princess Alexia, 20.
Keeping their children safe from online trolls, is also an issue front of mind for Charlotte’s estranged aunt and uncle – Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, over in Montecito.
As Prince Archie celebrated his seventh birthday on May 6, the couple chose to mark the occasion with a photo of him as a baby, and a distant shot of him and Lilibet playing on the beach.
“Harry knows from bitter experience how a childhood in the spotlight can change your life and not always for the better,” an insider told Woman’s Day.
A source shared more details with People, saying, Meghan and Harry “give their kids space to be themselves – for their different personalities to flourish”.
“After growing up so publicly, that was really important to Harry.”
The insider also said the kids were revelling in life in Montecito.
“They love their home and their community,” the source said. “The kids are really thriving,”
