Royal fans were delighted on 2 May 2015 when it was announced that the Princess of Wales had given birth to her second child, Princess Charlotte.

The announcement of a royal birth is a carefully choreographed operation. However, during an appearance on 60 Minutes Australia, Jason Knauf, a former royal aide to William and Catherine, revealed that there was a major mishap when it came to announcing Charlotte’s birth.

Speaking on the show, Jason revealed that he had written down information on Charlotte’s birth, including her time of birth and weight, in order to write it into a press release. However, when speaking to a group of journalists outside the hospital, he realised that he had lost the slip.

“We weren’t going to announce it for another couple of hours,” he explained. “And I had this piece of paper to go write this press release. I’m still out there with hundreds of journalists trying to have a game face, and then I couldn’t find the piece of paper, and I think I had dropped it somewhere on the street.”

“Oh my God. Which we managed to get through, but not announce it. But somewhere on that street the entire time was a piece of paper that said there had been a little princess born, what time and how much she weighed. It was one of those things, like, heart in mouth until we got to the announcement, and I got through it.”

When asked if he had ever found the slip, Jason responded: “No, I never found it and neither did any of the media though. So that’s all that really mattered.”

Princess Charlotte was born at 8.34am on 2 May 2015, weighing 8lb 3oz. The birth took place at St Mary’s Hospital in London. As Charlotte was delivered relatively quickly, the couple left the Lindo Wing in the late afternoon, just hours after Catherine had given birth.

Since her birth, Princess Charlotte has developed her own independent streak and can often be seen looking after her brothers, whether it’s reminding Prince George to bow at their late grandmother’s funeral, or just keeping an eye on her rambunctious younger brother.

Charlotte’s ‘mother hen’ attitude even extends to her mother, and during Catherine’s appearance at last year’s Trooping the Colour, which was her first public appearance since her cancer diagnosis, Charlotte made sure to look after her.

 

Speaking to a royal author Ingrid Seward said: “I think that Charlotte is really taking care of her mum. It was quite sweet the way she stood in front of her and they kept chatting. Charlotte seems to be very full of admiration for her mother, which I think is a lovely thing, too.”

She added: “Catherine and Charlotte are great friends, and I think to Catherine , their bond is very precious. The mother-daughter relationship is obviously particularly important to Catherine because she has such a close relationship with her own mother, Carole Middleton.”