Is Princess Charlotte Allowed To Wear Pants or Shorts?
If you’ve ever wondered whether or not Prince William and Kate Middleton‘s daughter, Princess Charlotte, is allowed to wear pants or shorts you’re not alone. The question has come up because every time the young royal is seen in public she always has on dresses.
The outfits worn by Charlotte and her older brother have been a topic of conversation for a while especially after we started noticing that Prince George only wears shorts. Now, we have to ask about his sister. Can she wear anything other than smocked dresses and Mary Jane shoes or is there a royal rule preventing the princess from doing so?
Here’s what we know about why Charlotte is always wearing dresses.
Dress code or no dress code?
You might be surprised to learn that there is no specific protocol or dress code banning the princess from wearing pants or shorts. However, Charlotte’s attire fits with the tradition of how other little girls in the royal family have dressed over the years.
“If you look at photos of young royal girls from Princess Anne to Charlotte, you will notice that they tend to wear smocked dresses as little girls when they are in public with their parents,” royal expert Marlene Koenig told BAZAAR.com.
“There are no rules about no pants. If the duchess is in a dress in public and Charlotte is with her, most likely Charlotte, at this age, will be in a dress — also in formal portraits, or on the balcony for the Trooping of the Colour,” Koenig added.
When Charlotte wears shorts and pants
In 2016, the paparazzi did manage to snap a shot of Charlotte wearing shorts. She was just over a year old and at a park with her brother and their nanny. While that was the only time she was photographed wearing anything other than a dress, Koenig believes that when she’s not attending official public events with her parents Charlotte does wear pants or shorts.
“I expect that when the kids are at home, playing in the nursery or in the backyard, they are wearing more casual clothes,” Koenig said.
Rules for Prince George
Royal fans previously questioned the reason George is always wearing shorts and not long pants. The choice to dress the young prince in shorts is part of a longstanding tradition. Etiquette expert William Hanson explained how this tradition among British royalty and aristocracy came about.
“It’s a very English thing to dress a young boy in shorts … The usual custom is that a boy graduates to trousers around 8 years old,” Hanson said. “This is, historically, perhaps due to the practice of ‘breeching,’ which dates back to the sixteenth century. A newborn boy would be dressed in a gown for their first year or two (these gowns have survived as the modern Christening robe) and then he was ‘breeched’ and wore articles of clothing that more resembled shorts or trousers than dresses.”
The prince has been permitted to go against tradition and wear pants for special occasions including when he served as pageboy on his Aunt Pippa’s wedding day as well as when his Uncle Harry married Meghan Markle.
Read more: Why Princess Charlotte is Not Allowed to Sit With Her Parents During Royal Dinners
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