Royal doppelgangers! How Princess Charlotte looks just like her father Prince William – and even he was left confused by one striking snap

With her cheeky smile and ability to keep both of her brothers in check, Princess Charlotte has already captured the heart of the nation.

From mastering the royal wave during walkabouts to getting stuck in with engagements, Charlotte is becoming more like her parents, the Prince and Princess of Wales, every day.

But while Charlotte, who turned nine earlier this month, may share Kate’s brunette tresses, she is the spitting image of her father.

At last year’s Trooping the Colour, Charlotte pointed to the sky in amazement as she and her family watched the Royal Air Force flypast from the Buckingham Palace balcony.

The image harked back to the ceremony in 1989, when Prince William was pictured waving excitedly at planes as he stood on the balcony with his brother Prince Harry, mother Princess Diana and great-aunt Princess Margaret.   

Princess Charlotte, who turned nine earlier this month, may share her mother Kate’s brunette tresses, but she is the spitting image of her father 

At last year’s Trooping the Colour, Princess Charlotte looked the spitting image of her father in his youth as she pointed to the sky during the Royal Air Force flypast

Another snapshot from the same day showed Charlotte squinting as she smiled at well-wishers while making her way in the traditional horse-drawn carriage to Horse Guards Parade. 

The image was strikingly similar to a picture of her father in a royal carriage at Trooping the Colour in 1989.

And, as strikingly similar photos of them as toddlers show, Charlotte has inherited her father’s eyes and nose, as well as some of his cheeky expressions. 

Kate and William have both picked up on the likeness in the past. 

During a royal outing to the Khidmat Centre, Bradford, in January 2020, William mistook a photo of himself during a go-karting day out as a child for one of his daughter.

‘Is that me?’ the Prince of Wales said. 

‘Doesn’t it look like Charlotte? Doesn’t it look like Charlotte? Is that me? Oh my goodness. Is that me? That looks just like Charlotte. That’s incredible. I haven’t seen that before. Very alike similarity.’

The Princess of Wales agreed, adding; ‘It looks so much like Charlotte.’

Princess Charlotte looked like her father’s double when attending the Christmas Day church service in 2022. Right: Prince William wearing the same expression at the christening of Princess Eugenie in 1990 

A photo released of Princess Charlotte in celebration of her first birthday in 2016 was reminiscent of an 18-month-old Prince William, who was pictured with a similar look in his eyes

Prince William and Charlotte looked incredibly alike while attending polo and tennis matches

The similarities were evident too when, in celebration of Charlotte’s first birthday in May 2016, the couple released a touching photo of her at Anmer Hall in Norfolk, which was then the family’s main home.

Charlotte, wearing a pink cardigan with a matching pink bow in her hair, gazes thoughtfully and appears relaxed and happy as she sits on the floor. 

The image bore a striking likeness to one of an 18-month-old William in 1983, when he was snapped looking wistful during a photo call with his parents.   

Sitting between the then Prince Charles and Princess Diana in the garden of their home at Kensington Palace, William had shiny locks of blonde hair which flowed in a similar style to his daughter’s when she was a toddler. 

With their adorable fair locks and rosy cheeks, the father and daughter duo could easily be mistaken for one another at 18 months old

As Charlotte made her way into the Lindo Wing at St Mary’s Hospital in April 2018, onlookers couldn’t help but think that the scene looked oddly familiar 

Another photo of Prince William from the same photocall shows the young Prince walking about confidently with his arms out as he shows off his pramsuit. 

The image was mirrored by his daughter more than 30 years later when Charlotte was seen enjoying a children’s party during her parents’ royal tour of Canada in September 2016.

As for their public appearances after the births of their respective younger siblings, they too demonstrate the remarkable likeness between them.

Princess Charlotte was full of excitement at meeting her baby brother, Prince Louis, as she waved to crowds outside the Lindo Wing at St Mary’s Hospital in London after his birth in April 2018.

Holding her father’s hand, the adorable toddler was clad in a blue floral smock dress, teamed with a dropped navy cardigan – but onlookers couldn’t help but think that the scene looked oddly familiar.

Prince William also gave onlookers a wave outside the same hospital after meeting his brother, Prince Harry, for the first time in 1984.

Princess Charlotte squints as she sits in the royal carriage during Trooping the Colour last June. Right: Prince William with a similar expression during the ceremony in 1989

Charlotte’s animated expression at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games was a dead ringer for a five-year-old William at the 1988 Trooping the Colour ceremony

Princess Charlotte also mirrors her father when looking glum, as a snap of her with her face in her hands during last year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham proved. 

The Princess was sat next to Prince William, who, at Trooping the Colour in 1988, had his own face in his hands while on the Buckingham Palace balcony.

Equally, another picture from the day in Birmingham also showed how Charlotte has inherited her father’s sweet smile.

Beaming in her striped dress, she wore the same expression displayed by William on his  first official engagement in Wales on St David’s Day in 1991.    

During the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, Charlotte showed how she has inherited her father’s sweet smile. Right: William during his first official engagement in Wales on St. David’s Day in 1991

 To mark her eighth birthday, the Prince and Princess of Wales shared a photo of Princess Charlotte. Her gap-tooth smile harked back to Prince William’s appearance in 1990 

And the cheeky look Charlotte gave when she stole the show at the ‘Together at Christmas’ carol service in London last year was reminiscent of William’s expression during a family trip to Balmoral in 1997.

Although he was then a lot older than his daughter was seven months ago, his subtle grin showed that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

To mark Charlotte’s eighth birthday, the Prince and Princess of Wales took to their official Instagram page to share a previously unseen portrait of the young royal.

In the photo, which was taken by her mother Kate, Charlotte wore a white, floral dress and flashed a huge gap-toothed grin whilst seated in a white wicker chair.

William at the same age was remarkably similar, as his gap-tooth smile – with the same two missing front teeth – showed.

From the shape of her eyes to her small button nose, Princess Charlotte has clearly inherited several of her father’s features.

A photo of Princess from the Coronation of King Charles in May bore an uncanny likeness to a photo of William go-karting at Buckmore Park Playscape in Chatham, in August 1992

Charlotte’s appearance at King Charles’s Coronation in May provided further opportunity for fans to spot her likeness with her father. 

Her expression as she wore a white dress and headpiece was remarkably similar to the one displayed by William during his go-karting day out at Buckmore Park, Chatham, in 1988.  

So, while it is no secret that the senior British royals appear to share a striking family resemblance, some of them look far more alike than others.

The third in line to the throne has often been compared to both her grandmother, Princess Diana, and great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, but the resemblance to William is by far the strongest.