Princess Charlotte's eighth birthday marked by sweet smiling photo

A new photo of a smiley Princess Charlotte has been released ahead of her eighth birthday.

The young princess was photographed grinning in a white dress with flowers on it by her mother, the Princess of Wales, in Windsor this weekend.

The family will be centre stage at the King’s coronation on May 6 – and Charlotte and her brothers are expected to watch their grandfather be crowned, the Press Association reports.

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The princess is expected to accompany her siblings in the procession from Westminster Abbey which will follow the King’s coronation, according to newspaper reports.

Charlotte is the second child of the Prince and Princess of Wales and the younger sister of Prince George, nine – she also has a younger brother, Prince Louis, five.

George will be one of eight Pages of Honour during the service, joining a procession through the nave and assisting with the holding of robes.

The trio will also be expected on the Buckingham Palace balcony afterwards – with royal fans hoping for a repeat of Louis’s antics during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

The family live in Adelaide Cottage in Windsor’s Home Park and Charlotte attends the private Lambrook School near Ascot in Berkshire alongside her brothers.

Last month, a smiling Louis was photographed being pushed in a wheelbarrow by his mother Kate ahead of his fifth birthday.

Charlotte has a reputation for being feisty compared to her older brother George, and her great-grandmother the late Queen Elizabeth II once remarked how Charlotte likes to look after George – and Kate has previously said the princess is “the one in charge”.

Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana of Cambridge was born in the Lindo