Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis know there is a difference between them and Prince George

Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis know there is a difference between them and their older brother Prince George, a royal expert has claimed. 

• Kate Middleton and Prince William 'have had to explain' to Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis that their brother Prince George is 'different' to them, a royal expert has claimed.
• According to the expert, the noticeable difference in their treatment was unavoidable due to the large-scale royal events that have taken place over the last year. 
• In other royal news, Kate Middleton proved she is 'leader of the family' as she 'coached' Prince George and Princess Charlotte through Wimbledon appearance.

Kate Middleton and Prince William are navigating the trials and tribulations of raising not one but three heirs to the throne and taking every day seemingly in their stride. The couple have found some brilliant work arounds, including a handy trick to keep the paparazzi off their backs during holidays, and pride themselves in protecting their young children's privacy. 

But this past year has seen a myriad of events that demanded Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis be put into the spotlight. From The Queen's state funeral back in September 2022, to the King's Coronation and, most recently, the King's first birthday parade as monarch. 

All these appearances mean the children have started to figure out their place within not just The Firm but in the wider public sphere and Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis in particular are noticing some differences between the way they and their older brother Prince George are treated. 

But former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond told OK! Magazine that, while the siblings are treated somewhat differently in public, their home life is not affected by their positions in the royal line of succession.

She said, “I think that in any family, you treat your kids much the same. Generally, the youngest gets a bit more favour when compared to the eldest as the first-born generally has to get on with it.

"Just because George is going to be King at a much, much later date I don't think that will make any difference at all to the dynamics of family life - they would treat their children just as they are and let them be kids fooling around over the breakfast table or dancing around the kitchen.

"In the domestic arena, they would be treated absolutely equally but then there is the slightly different situation that they will have had to explain to Charlotte and Louis that George does go first, George walks in front, George has a bigger role at the Coronation and George does this that you don't do, so I suppose they will gently have explained it.”

But if the siblings do know about the differences between them and their brother, they don't seem to be all too bothered about it. Kate Middleton revealed that Prince Louis is currently focusing his efforts on pursuing his dream career with 'at home' practice and Charlotte is drawing plenty of attention from both royal fans, who fell in love with her all over again after her recent Wimbledon appearance, and her parents, with Prince William  ‘watching with pride’ as she takes over as the Royal Family’s ‘class prefect’.

Jennie Bond isn't the only person who has brought up the differences between the siblings though. Prince Harry has previously voiced his worries about his niece Princess Charlotte and nephew Prince Louis, saying that he worries their position as 'spares' will mean they 'end up' like him.

In his memoir Spare, the Prince wrote, "Though William and I have talked about it once or twice, and he has made it very clear to me that his kids are not my responsibility, I still feel a responsibility knowing that out of those three children, at least one will end up like me, the spare and that hurts, that worries me."

However, Jennie points out that there have been many 'spares' in the royal family who have not suffered like Harry has. Referring to his comments, Jennie said, "Harry has a huge chip on his shoulder about being a spare, we all know that now, but he doesn't have to assume that William and Catherine's children will feel the same as him.

"Look at the look at the Duke of Edinburgh and particularly look at the Princess Royal, they didn't feel like the spares. They've gone out there and made it clear they don't feel second class in the least and worked hard regardless.

"Charlotte and Louis will be very important people with huge privilege and a huge platform, and so they don't need to feel spare. Just because Harry felt spare, doesn't mean that his nephew and niece will feel spare."