Fans Say Princess Charlotte Is Prince William's 'Mini-Me' in New Portrait 

Prince William and Kate Middleton—the Prince and Princess of Wales—marked their daughter Princess Charlotte's eighth birthday on Tuesday by releasing a new portrait that has sparked a series of family comparisons on social media.

Charlotte is the royal couple's second child. She was born in 2015 between her older brother, Prince George (born in 2013), and younger brother, Prince Louis (born in 2018).

Over the past year, the princess has made an increased number of public appearances. She attended the Platinum Jubilee celebrations and funeral services for her great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth II and undertook her first solo engagement with her parents.

In the new portrait, Charlotte is photographed by her mother seated on a wicker chair wearing a floral embroidered dress and smiling at the camera.

A statement from Kensington Palace issued with the image read: "The Prince and Princess of Wales are delighted to share a new photograph of Princess Charlotte
ahead of her eighth birthday tomorrow. The photograph was taken in Windsor [in Berkshire, England] this weekend by The Princess of Wales."

Shortly after the photograph was released, a number of social-media users highlighted similarities between the princess and her father.

"Princess Charlotte is looking more and more like Prince William each day!" wrote one Twitter user, with another adding: "She really is William's twin."

"She's Prince William's Mini-Me! Identical, even the same smile, pretty princess, Happy Birthday Princess Charlotte!" tweeted one poster.

Another also highlighted her similarities to her grandmother, the late Princess Diana, writing on Twitter: "Happy birthday Princess Charlotte. William and Diana's mini me."

This is not the first time that Charlotte's physical likeness to her father has been pointed out. William himself voiced surprise at how alike the pair are after seeing a younger photograph of himself during a royal engagement.

During a 2020 visit to the Khidmat Centre, in Bradford, England, William and Kate were shown a special cupcake display that featured photographs charting their relationship.

"Is that me?" the prince said, pointing at a photograph of himself as a child. "Doesn't it look like Charlotte? Doesn't it look like Charlotte? Is that me? Oh my goodness. Is that me? That looks just like Charlotte. That's incredible. I haven't seen that before. Very alike similarity."

The moment has since gone viral, receiving more than 1.8 million views on TikTok after user l0velycatherine posted an edited clip to the platform.

Ever since her children were very young, the Princess of Wales, a keen amateur photographer, has released portrait photographs of their milestones taken by herself.

Most recently, the royal released a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and a group of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, including Charlotte, taken during the summer of 2022. This came just months before the 96-year-old monarch's death. The image was released to mark what would have been her 97th birthday on April 21.

The past 12 months have seen Charlotte undertake a number of important milestones. Not only did she attend the events marking a once-in-a-lifetime Platinum Jubilee, but she also experienced more personal high-profile events such as her first day at a new school.

The princess started at Lambrook School near Windsor, Berkshire, in September 2022 alongside her brothers, George and Louis. The change of schools coincided with the Wales family's move to a property on the Windsor Castle estate.

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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