There is still a lot of time between now and when Princess Charlotte, the second child of Prince William and Kate Middleton, is an adult. At 7 years old, she has over a decade to learn and discover who she is before she becomes an official adult. But while most parents don't look into the future to choose their kid's career path, the royal family is, at least according to an insider.
And it sounds like plans for Princess Charlotte don't include her being a working royal.
Things work differently in the royal family than in a typical family because they also work together. It's their job to appear with family or represent the family publicly. As a result, the lines between personal relationships and business can sometimes be blurry.
Being a "working royal," as the Prince and Princess of Wales have been for more than 10 years, is a job title representing the monarchy at official engagements. For most of that time, the parents of the three represented Queen Elizabeth, and now they do the same for William's father, King Charles.
Being a working royal is a role that those in the line of succession are born into.
Princess Charlotte is the second child of William and Kate, younger sister to 9-year-old Prince George and big sister to 4-year-old brother Louis. She's also third in the line of succession to the throne, after her dad, Prince William, and brother Prince George.
And being so high in the line of succession, it would be customary for Charlotte to become a working royal when she's old enough to represent the crown.
But it sounds like things will be different for Charlotte, at least according to one person.
Daily Mail Diary Editor Richard Eden recently touched on this topic, and it's his understanding the royal family have something else in mind for Charlotte.
"From what I hear, the Prince and Princess of Wales want Charlotte, aged 7, to grow up with the expectation that she will get a job and not be a full-time royal," he explained.
The reason, according to the editor, is that Charles wants a slimmed-down monarchy.
According to the Daily Mail, both King Charles and Prince William want to have fewer working royals in the future and that would be why they're planning a different path for Charlotte.
"Personally, I would prefer to see a larger Royal Family, carrying out more official engagements and meeting more members of the public," Richard shared in his take on the information.
"If Charlotte is to get a job and not be an active member of 'The Firm,' she needs to be ready to step into the breach, if needed."
Should this be what ends up happening as Charlotte gets older, it's an interesting move.
It's no secret that a lot of drama and tension stemmed from Charlotte's uncle, Prince Harry, deciding to step back as a working royal, along with his wife, Meghan Markle. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex faced criticism for their decision to leave their jobs as working royals — and still face pushback from that decision.
But according to the insider information, Prince William doesn't want Charlotte to have the same fate as Harry. With both being the "spare," an unofficial title given to the second sibling who would only inherit the crown should something happen to the older sibling, William wants to protect Charlotte.
The "spare" title was also given to Queen Elizabeth's sister, Princess Margaret, and Prince Andrew, King Charles' brother. Each struggled as the sibling to the heir to the throne.
Only time will tell for Charlotte.
Check out our Meghan Markle page for all the latest news about Meghan, Prince Harry, and their growing family.
