There will be no royal treatment on the touchline. Princess Charlotte, 11, has joined an out-of-school netball team that competes at a high standard in fixtures across England — and her parents, the Prince and Princess of Wales, are doing exactly what every other mum and dad does: loading up the car, making the early starts, and cheering from camping chairs on the sidelines.
Just Like Any Other Parents
The news, first reported by the Mail on Sunday, has caused no small amount of excitement among fellow netball families. Word has got around that William and Kate are showing up to matches like regular participating parents, and the prospect has not gone unnoticed by others on the circuit.
'All of the parents of the girls on the opposing teams are wondering whether or not they're going to run into William and Catherine,' a source said, adding that it would be 'funny to see them in such a down-to-earth environment, doing the early starts and long drives that everyone else has to do.'
It is, by all accounts, a refreshingly ordinary scene for one of the most high-profile families in the world. Far from the pageantry of state occasions and royal engagements, this is muddy pitches, match teas, and parents hollering encouragement from the edge of the court.
Like Mother, Like Daughter
Charlotte's passion for the sport will come as little surprise to anyone who has followed the Princess of Wales's own sporting history. Kate captained the hockey team at Marlborough College and played volleyball in five-inch Russell and Bromley wedges at a 2013 SportsAid charity event shortly after Prince George's birth — a moment that has become something of royal legend.
She also played in an under-11s netball team at St Andrew's School in 1992, meaning Charlotte is, in the most literal sense, following in her mother's footsteps.
Kate has not merely been a passive influence, either. Back in 2023, she was spotted showing off her shooting skills at a SportsAid event at Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, and England netball player Ama Agbeze revealed exactly what the Princess had told her.
'She said she had been teaching her daughter how to shoot in netball, but younger people have the net lower, so it's actually very different — she's still got it,' Agbeze said.
Glasgow Gave the Game Away
Charlotte's enthusiasm for netball had already been on vivid public display earlier this month, when the whole Wales family attended the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Seated alongside William, Kate, Prince George, 13, and Prince Louis, eight, Charlotte watched Australia take on Jamaica in the semi-final and England's contest against New Zealand with visible delight.
Afterwards, she joined her mother for photographs with the Scotland netball squad — a moment that felt, in hindsight, rather telling. At the event, William mentioned that Charlotte 'loves ballet and gymnastics', while Kate added that her daughter's favourite part was 'the floor' and that she 'likes her dancing.' Netball, it seems, can now be added firmly to that list.
A Sporting Future in the Making?
For royal watchers, Charlotte's growing sporting profile is a charming echo of her mother's reputation as one of the most athletic members of the family. Whether she goes on to captain a team of her own one day remains to be seen, but for now, the eleven-year-old is competing at a high level, with two very dedicated — if slightly famous — supporters on the sideline.
The other parents, one imagines, are quietly hoping for a glimpse of the Prince of Wales between halves.
