Princess Charlotte Is the Queen of Keeping Little Brother Prince Louis in Check

Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis ride in the carriage procession at Trooping the Colour

(Image credit: Getty)

published 3 June 2023

Earlier this week, Marie Claire reported about Princess Charlotte’s four-word command to older brother Prince George to keep him in check—but it’s not just George that Charlotte keeps in order. As was evidenced heavily during King Charles’ Coronation last month, Charlotte does the same for younger brother Prince Louis, but the ceremony at Westminster Abbey certainly wasn’t the first occasion on which this happened.

As The Mirror reports, this time last year we were celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee—my, what can happen in 365 days, huh?—and during the carriage ride at Trooping the Colour, Louis got his own taste of what we lovingly call “Charlotte in charge.”

Charlotte and Louis were riding in a carriage alongside their mom, Kate, George, and Camilla, who was then Duchess of Cornwall. The three Wales kids—then the Cambridge kids—made their carriage debut at Trooping the Colour, where “the young royals beamed as they waved to well-wishers and looked around at the horses taking part in the monarch’s official birthday celebration,” the outlet reported.

In a moment that, let’s be honest, we’ll probably talk about every year, Charlotte seemed unimpressed at her little brother’s overly enthusiastic wave. “And she was seen telling him to stop and slapping down his hand,” The Mirror reports. “But Louis didn’t look too put off and continued to smile.” (Louis, by the way, was wearing an adorable hand-me-down of note: His father Prince William’s sailor-style top that he wore at Trooping the Colour in 1985.) Later, Charlotte was caught holding her little brother’s hand, “supporting him through the massive occasion,” the outlet writes.

Trooping the Colour will return this year on June 17—King Charles’ first as monarch—with the now Wales kids likely to participate again. The King and William will ride on horseback, while other members of the royal family, including Kate and Camilla, will watch from carriages and the Buckingham Palace balcony.

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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.