Kate Middleton and Prince William are shielding Princess Charlotte from the potential pitfalls of being the "spare" to her brother Prince George, heir to the throne.

Royal experts say that ‘everyone is conscious’ of the challenging role taken on by the second child in an intrinsically hierarchical family

The royal couple is said to be treading carefully with Charlotte’s upbringing in light of the Duke of Sussex’s candid account of life as a “spare."