Princess Charlotte joins netball team as Catherine and William supporting their daughter's sporting passion

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The young royal's passion for the sport was on full display earlier this month at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow

Princess Charlotte has taken up competitive netball as she follows in her mother’s footsteps.

The young royal, who celebrated her 11th birthday in May, is a member of an out-of-school team that plays at a high standard in fixtures across the country.

Rather than receiving any special treatment, the Prince and Princess of Wales are driving Charlotte to away games, setting up camping chairs on the touchline and throwing themselves into the experience.

The princess appears to have inherited her mother's well-documented love of sport, with Catherine long regarded as one of the most athletic members of the Royal Family.

"All of the parents of the girls on the opposing teams are wondering whether or not they're going to run into William and Catherine," a source said.

The insider described the whole arrangement as very hands-on, adding that it would be amusing to picture the couple in such an ordinary setting.

"It would be funny to see them in such a down-to-earth environment, doing the early starts and long drives that everyone else has to do," the source said.

Charlotte's passion for the sport was on full display earlier this month at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Seated in the stands alongside William, Catherine and her brothers, Prince George, 13, and Prince Louis, eight, she took in the semi-final between Australia and Jamaica as well as England's contest against New Zealand.

The 11-year-old later joined her 44-year-old mother to have photographs taken with the Scotland netball squad, in what may have offered a tantalising preview of things to come.

The Glasgow outing underlined just how deeply Charlotte's enthusiasm for the game has taken root within the family.

Her interest in netball has clearly been nurtured at home for several years.

Back in 2023, Catherine revealed she had been coaching Charlotte on her shooting technique, making the comments while demonstrating her own skills at a SportsAid event held at Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre in Marlow, Buckinghamshire.

England netball player Ama Agbeze, 43, recounted what the princess had told her. "She said she had been teaching her daughter how to shoot in netball, but younger people have the net lower, so it's actually very different, she's still got it," Agbeze said.

Catherine herself captained the hockey team at Marlborough College and memorably played volleyball in five-inch Russell and Bromley wedges at a 2013 SportsAid charity event shortly after Prince George's birth.