Princess Charlotte made history at the age of two with special honour Princess Anne missed out on

Princess Charlotte was given an advantage that other royal females including Princess Anne didn't benefit from

Princess Charlotte
(Image credit: Getty)

Princess Charlotte made royal history at the age of two when she was given a huge honour that Princess Anne wasn't. 


After the birth of Prince Louis in 2018, Princess Charlotte - who was just two at the time - became the first female royal to benefit from The Succession to the Crown Act (2013), which states that girls will not be overtaken by younger brothers.

The Act only applies to those born after 28 October 2011, meaning that other key female members of the Royal Family, such as Princess Anne and Lady Louise Windsor, have missed out.

According to royal expert Marlene Koenig, who previously spoke to Express.co.uk, Charlotte will never "be pushed down" the royal line of succession. 

While Princess Charlotte is ahead of her younger brother Prince Louis at third-in-line to the throne - after her older brother Prince George - Princess Anne is much further down the line of succession than her younger brothers, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.

Princess Charlotte

(Image credit: Getty)

The Princess Royal, who celebrated her 72nd birthday in August, is currently in 16th place behind her niece, Lady Louise Windsor.

If the rules had been changed at the time of Anne's birth in 1950, her children Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall would be much closer to the throne than their cousins, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, who are currently tenth and 11th.

The Earl and Countess of Wessex's daughter Lady Louise Windsor, 19, was also overtaken by her younger brother James, Viscount Severn in the royal line of succession after his birth in 2007. James is currently 14th in line, while Lady Louise is 15th.

She may be pretty far down the royal line of succession, but Princess Anne has been named the hardest-working royal for many years.

Princess Charlotte

(Image credit: Getty)

The Princess Royal attended the most royal engagements in 2022 out of all the working royals - and she also topped the list in 2020 and 2021. Anne, who lives at Gatcombe Park, attended an impressive 214 yearly royal engagements in 2022, compared to King Charles' 181 events.

The data, released by Reboot SEO Company, used The Royal Court Circular to calculate the number of engagements by each member of the royal family between 01/01/2022 to 31/12/2022 that have been recorded and these were then added together and ranked.

Meanwhile, King Charles III ranks in second place, having taken part in 181 royal engagements in 2022, most of which have been newly appointed. The Earl and Countess of Wessex came in third and fourth respectively, with Prince William coming in fifth place.

Kate Middleton placed slightly further down in ninth place, undertaking 90 royal engagements in 2022. July was Princess Anne’s busiest month, with 24 engagements taking place. Impressive!

Robyn Morris
Entertainment writer - contributor

Robyn is a freelance celebrity journalist with ten years experience in the industry. While studying for a degree in Media and Cultural Studies at London College of Communication, she did internships at Now and Heat magazines. After graduating, she landed a job at Star magazine, where she worked her way up to features editor. She then worked at Future as Deputy Celebrity Content Director across Woman, Woman’s Own, Woman’s Weekly and Woman & Home magazines.