The parenting 'nightmare' Princess Charlotte causes is so relatable

Princess Charlotte might be adorable but she reportedly causes a parenting “nightmare” for Prince William that many can relate to.  

• Prince William is said to have opened up about this parenting “nightmare” during an engagement back in 2019.
• It’s said that the Prince of Wales isn’t a fan of ponytails when it comes to doing Charlotte’s at home. 
• This royal news (opens in new tab) comes as it was revealed how Kate Middleton’s ‘perfect image’ will help her avoid embarrassment in The Crown (opens in new tab).

Prince William and Kate Middleton’s parenting style (opens in new tab) with Prince George (opens in new tab), Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis has often attracted attention from fans. Known to be hands-on parents, the couple have often shared intriguing details about their family life over the years. And though they do have help when it comes to who looks after George, Charlotte and Louis (opens in new tab) when they’re away, during their recent Caribbean Tour, it was claimed Kate juggled mum life and royal duties (opens in new tab) organising her children’s activities at 4am. 

As senior members of The Firm (opens in new tab), balancing work and a family is never easy, though it seems there’s one household task that isn’t quite so easy either. Princess Charlotte reportedly causes one parenting “nightmare” that William dreads... 

According to People (opens in new tab), it was during a royal visit to Blackpool back in 2019 that the Queen’s grandson opened up about this very relatable problem. Speaking to a fellow dad as they took a trip to a newly regenerated family-friendly park, William is said to have joked about the difficulty of doing their daughters' hair!

The publication reports that the resident explained that he’d finally cracked the code to creating the perfect hair-do for her thanks to YouTube tutorials. Meanwhile, William joined in, commiserating over his least-favourite hairstyle to try and replicate as he supposedly said, “Never try to do a ponytail!” 

“Nightmare!” he’s understood to have added light-heartedly before Kate apparently joined in the conversation. Responding to her husband’s exclamation, the Princess asked him about plaits as she suggested that it’s these, not ponytails, that pose more of a challenge.

“Have you tried to do a plait? It’s the weaving…really hard,” she said, before William reportedly explained, “I can do [Charlotte’s] ponytail, but that’s about it as I don’t have enough hair to practice on!”

But whilst he might not enjoy styling her hair, the Prince of Wales and his only daughter are understood to be incredibly close. William even has an unusual nickname for Charlotte (opens in new tab) that couldn’t be sweeter, as revealed during a visit to the Royal Chelsea Flower Show in 2019. 

They’d gone to see Kate’s Back to Nature garden design and in a video clip shared on the couple's social media accounts, the future King can be heard calling her ‘Mignonette’, or ‘little sweet’. 

Meanwhile, the doting dad has also been open about Charlotte’s cheeky nature. He revealed that when she turned six she found her sass. He said;  “[kids] grow up very fast. If you ask [Charlotte], she thinks she’s 16… she says, ‘I’m six now, I’ll do what I want’.”