Every youngster growing up has their heroes and icons. Many will admire sports stars, others musicians, and some TV personalities.
Generally speaking, the royals are a bit further down the list than they would have been for previous generations. It would certainly be hard for kids to feel a close affinity to a septuagenarian king.
However, that is not the case with Princess Charlotte. Lots of young girls will love to dress up as princesses and enjoy fairytale stories about castles and princes, but eight-year-old Charlotte gets to live the dream for real.
At the same time, however, her fashion sense can be highly influential, not least because she mixes some of the smartest girl’s designer clothes with some basic, often very standard items that can and will be worn by anyone that age.
The outfits she wore over the Coronation Bank holiday were a classic case in point. On the grand occasion, she looked every bit the young princess with her Alexander McQueen-designed ceremonial white dress, a fitting look for the formality, pomp and splendour of the grand occasion. Then she wore a smart Amaia coat and dress at the Coronation concert.
However, come the Monday she was thoroughly dressed down with her parents over in Slough, joining in the Big Help Out at a scout hut. While engaged in activities ranging from archery to painting a door, she had a fascinating compo of chic and dressed down; a raspberry pink cashmere jumper, combined with denim shirts and sneakers.
With one smart item (the jumper) that could easily be emulated by something made of sheep’s wool, along with shorts and footwear that any eight-year-old present could have worn, it was an object lesson in how to combine the designer style of royalty with a hint of the common touch.
This ability to effortlessly match style and commonality has been on display before, suggesting that Charlotte has parents with some seriously smart fashion sense. Another good example occurred at last year’s Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, when she sported a navy blue and white striped dress at the Aquatics Centre in Smethwick.
Whether the colours were a nod to local football sensibilities - West Bromwich Albion play just up the road and it might have added some balance as Prince William is a fan of local rivals Aston Villa - the £39 outfit, designed by Rachel Riley, sold out in just 24 hours.
As she gets older, Princess Charlotte’s every move will no doubt be caught on camera and many will hope that this does not end up in some kind of paparazzi feeding frenzy as she gets older and her personal life becomes the inevitable topic of speculation and headline. That other side to being a princess may not be quite the stuff of fairytales.
Even then, however, her clothing style is bound to fill the pages of glossy magazines and inspire many. It may be that as your daughter comes of age she may carry on following the princess, or go in a different direction entirely. But for now, it seems that whatever Charlotte touches becomes fashion gold.