Princess Charlotte Is Exhausted After Making Sure Prince Louis “Behaved Himself”

When the official coronation schedule was released ahead of King Charles’ crowning on May 6, neither 8-year-old Princess Charlotte nor 5-year-old Prince Louis were given royally sanctioned roles at the ceremony. Their 9-year-old brother Prince George was a Page of Honor along with three other boys, and their father Prince William was the first person to kneel before the newly crowned king and pledge his loyalty. Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis were not assigned official roles, but they took two on nonetheless. Princess Charlotte was a self-appointed minder for her little brother, while Prince Louis tried to slip seamlessly into his preferred role as court jester. These roles are obviously at cross-purposes, which is perhaps why Prince William said his daughter is “very tired” after keeping a weather eye on her little brother all day.

On Monday, Prince William stepped out to greet royal fans alongside wife Kate Middleton outside Windsor Castle, talking to well-wishers and answering questions. When a young girl asked about his daughter Princess Charlotte, he explained she wasn’t joining her parents for the outing because she’s exhausted, as Hello! magazine reported.

“She’s very tired after yesterday,” the Prince of Wales told the young girl. “She’s having a quiet day at home. It was making sure her little brother behaved himself.”

Rather unfortunately for royal fans who get a kick out of Prince Louis’ antics, Princess Charlotte did a bang up job of keeping him in line. From the moment she held tight to his hand as they walked into Westminster Abbey to the way she stood guard over him on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, Princess Charlotte was absolutely in charge. Sure, Prince Louis still managed to get in some big, exaggerated yawns during the coronation, danced on the balcony and made silly faces, but ultimately he was in much better form than he was during his Platinum Jubilee days. Not that she didn’t do her level best to keep both him and older brother Prince George in check even then, but it seems Prince Louis may have won that round. This time around, Princess Charlotte reigned victorious. And her reward was a blissfully quiet afternoon at home to recharge her batteries.

It appears to have worked too, because the entire family went out to volunteer their time at The Big Help Out on Monday and Princess Charlotte was back on the job. Volunteers heard her telling Prince Louis, “Don’t do that!” when they joined the scouts to paint cinder blocks for planters. “She was advising him, obviously,” Scout helper Anne Edwards told People.

If you listen closely, you can probably hear Princess Charlotte’s long-suffering sigh carry across the sea. She’ll need to take to her bed again in no time.