Princess Charlotte Shares the Spotlight With an Unexpected Royal Guest in Her 11th Birthday Tribute
Kate and William celebrated their daughter's special day with an adorable video montage.
Princess Charlotte is now 11 years old. Princess Kate and Prince William's daughter, who was born on May 2, 2015, celebrated her 11th birthday in 2026 with two very special tributes. And the young royal shared the spotlight with an unexpected guest in a new Instagram video in honor of the momentous occasion.
Firstly, Kate and William posted a brand new portrait of Charlotte, taken by celebrated royal photographer Matt Porteous, on Instagram with the caption, "Wishing Charlotte a very happy 11th birthday!"
Unsurprisingly, royal fans were delighted by the new picture of Princess Charlotte, which showed her posing outdoors in nature.
Later in the day, Kate and William shared a new video montage featuring clips of Princess Charlotte, along with the caption, "Thank you for the lovely birthday messages for Princess Charlotte, 11 today!"
In the footage, Princess Charlotte displayed her talent for cricket and spelled out a message using stones on the beach. Notably, Charlotte wasn't alone in her birthday montage. Instead, the young princess could be seen petting two of the family's adorable dogs—Orla and Otto.
Just days ago, the Prince and Princess of Wales celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary by sharing a new family portrait on social media. Their pups, Orla and Otto, were also included in the photo, which showed the entire Wales clan lying down in a field.
As noted by Marie Claire's senior royal editor, Kristin Contino, Princess Charlotte actually embraced one of Spring 2026's most popular manicure trends in the anniversary snap.
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Charlotte's on-trend baby blue manicure cleverly coordinated with her aqua T-shirt and navy shorts in the picture, proving she's already following in mom Princess Kate's stylish footsteps.
Amy Mackelden is the weekend editor at Marie Claire, where she covers celebrity and royal family news. She was the weekend editor at Harper’s BAZAAR for three years, where she covered breaking celebrity and entertainment news, royal stories, fashion, beauty, and politics. Prior to that, she spent a year as the joint weekend editor for Marie Claire, ELLE, and Harper's BAZAAR, and two years as an entertainment writer at Bustle. Her additional bylines include Cosmopolitan, People, The Independent, HelloGiggles, Biography, Shondaland, Best Products, New Statesman, Heat, and The Guardian. Her work has been syndicated by publications including Town & Country, Good Housekeeping, Esquire, Delish, Oprah Daily, Country Living, and Women's Health. Her celebrity interviews include Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Chastain, the cast of Selling Sunset, Emma Thompson, Jessica Alba, and Penn Badgley. In 2015, she delivered an academic paper at Kimposium, the world's first Kardashian conference.