Princess Charlotte's Go-To Hairstyle Is A Kate Middleton Classic

One thing Princess Charlotte inherited from her mother, Catherine, Princess of Wales, is her good hair genes. Furthermore, the adorable duo are no strangers to wearing their hair in braids. Kate Middleton has donned them a few different ways over the years. For instance, sometimes she chooses to use braids as the foundation of an up-do, like in 2012 at Royal Albert Hall. Kate did something similar at the 600th Anniversary Dinner for St. Andrews in 2014, when her braid (seemingly a French braid) was pinned up into a chic loose bun.

A half-up, half-down braided hairstyle that the princess has opted for more than once involves leaving most of her hair down and curled at the ends, with a small braid done horizontally across the back of her head directly underneath a fascinator (an accessory which truthfully has American origins despite feeling quintessentially British). While attending the wedding of William, Prince of Wales', cousin Emily McCorquodale in 2012, Kate paired that hairstyle with a tan fascinator. For a festive occasion, she wore it again while nearly matching with Charlotte.

On Christmas Day 2023, Catherine, Princess of Wales and her daughter, Princess Charlotte, were amongst the royals that walked to church together. The mother and daughter wore their hair in differently styled braids, both employing styles that left some hair down. While Kate Middleton again had a small horizontal braid under a fascinator (this time in a deep blue), Charlotte had two small braids that were tied together with a velvet ribbon in the back. Earlier that year at King Charles III's coronation, Charlotte and Kate both wore striking headpieces honoring the late Queen Elizabeth II and had their hair styled in similar up-dos. Charlotte's bun from that event was put together with intertwined braids.

Braids definitely seem to be one of the mini royal's favorite hairstyles. Charlotte also wore her hair in braids for several of the Platinum Jubilee events back in 2022. The look she donned for Trooping the Colour that year was the same as her Christmas 2023 look, where two braids were tied together at the back of her head with a ribbon. The Princess of Wales seems to do most of Charlotte's braided hairstyles. During a royal engagement in 2019, Kate saw a little girl with braids and complimented them before adding, "I tried to do a plait with Charlotte this morning but it didn't really work very well. You look very smart. You look lovely," (via the Daily Mail). Side note: Plaits are what Brits call braids. 

Notably, Princess Charlotte also wore her hair in braids to join her father and brother at Taylor Swift's Eras Tour in London in June 2024. The adorable mini royal had two braids in her hair for the event, but there seemed to be no ribbon this time and most of her tresses were loose and down. The style could be seen in the selfie of Swift, Charlotte, Prince George, and William, Prince of Wales that was snapped by the "Shake It Off" songstress and shared on The Prince and Princess of Wales' official Instagram account. Another photo also including Swift's boyfriend Travis Kelce was shared to her account.

In 2019, William reportedly discussed styling his kids' hair at an official engagement. According to People, he warned a fellow struggling father, "Never try to do a ponytail! Nightmare." After Kate Middleton pointed out how difficult it is to do a braid, her husband admitted, "I can do [Charlotte's] ponytail, but that's about it as I don't have enough hair to practice on!" William really let loose at the Eras Tour, and if he had hair like Charlotte's, his "Shake It Off" dancing would've no doubt had it flying every which way.