Princess Charlotte Celebrated Her Eighth Birthday in the Most Princess Way Possible

Happy eighth birthday today to Princess Charlotte, also known as Lottie to her mother and mignonette (French for “cute little thing”) to her father. And don’t worry—even though one of the biggest royal family events in 70 years is just four days away, Charlotte’s big day hasn’t been forgotten. Though Hello reports that she’ll likely spend today at school—it’s Tuesday, after all, and school comes first even if you’re a princess—the outlet reports that she got an early birthday extravaganza over the weekend, attending The Royal Ballet and the National Ballet of Canada’s performance of Cinderella at the Royal Opera House on Saturday night.

Charlotte even got to bring along some of her friends to the occasion—I mean, what a birthday party!—and, proving that, okay, maybe she’s not exactly like the rest of us when we were eight, “Princess Charlotte was seen taking to the stage at the end of the ballet, joining the dancers for photographs and waving an illuminated star wand as she pranced across the stage,” Hello reports. (I mean, as she should.) Charlotte brought all of her friends onstage with her—and her mum, too. Charlotte even had her hair coiffed in a ballerina bun for the occasion.

Charlotte has been a fan of ballet as far back as 2017, when she was just two years old. Kate first mentioned her daughter’s passion for dance even when she was at that tender age, mentioning that Charlotte “absolutely loves [ballet].”

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Per tradition, we got a new photo of the princess to mark her big day, this one, per custom, taken by Kate. The photo, taken just this past weekend according to People, shows Charlotte lounging in what appears to be a hammock with a huge smile on her face.

“The Prince and Princess of Wales are delighted to share a new photograph of Princess Charlotte ahead of her eighth birthday tomorrow,” the Palace said in a statement. On Instagram, her parents’ account captioned the photo “Wishing Princess Charlotte a very happy birthday!” 8 tomorrow,” accompanied by a red balloon and a birthday cake emoji.

Later, her parents released a bonus shot of Charlotte, this photo taken by Millie Pilkington, who took the fifth birthday portraits of Charlotte's little brother, Prince Louis. In the new photo, Charlotte beams alongside flowers and the Wales family dog, Orla, per People. William and Kate captioned the photo "Thank you for all the birthday wishes."

Charlotte has a big week this week—in addition to her birthday today, she’s no doubt preparing for Saturday’s Coronation, which honors her grandfather, King Charles. As The Daily Mail reports (and as anyone can likely deduce on their own), Charlotte’s name itself is a likely tribute to the monarch, as Charlotte is the feminine form of Charles. Her two middle names, Elizabeth and Diana, also pay tribute to family members—Her late Majesty, Charlotte’s great-grandmother, and Princess Diana, her paternal grandmother.

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.