Why Kate and Will’s new baby is bad news for Princess Charlotte… who will be demoted to the ‘overlooked middle child’
THE third royal baby is great news for royal family fans - but spare a thought for poor Princess Charlotte.
The arrival of a younger sibling relegates the two-year-old from baby of the family to middle child, which as many children sandwiched between siblings will tell you, could mean a life of invisibility and neuroses.
Some "middle child" claim they feel ignored, as if their achievements are underwhelming and generally not very important in their parents' eyes.
With all the energy spent on the first child, and the baby of the family now sapping up any surplus attention, child number two can often feel overlooked.
Here writer Esther Beadle reveals how she's found growing up as the middle child in a blended family of six - and the nightmare which could be in store for Princess Charlotte.
"After barely 28 months as the cutesy darling of the Royal Family, it’s time for Charlotte to move over for another Royal Babe to join the Cambridge brood. I never thought I’d feel pity for a princess, but Charlotte will really have her work cut out now.
"As if it wasn’t bad enough being the spare to the heir, once Baby Number Three comes along the princess will be relegated to the sidelines - just like all us other middle children.
"Being in the middle is never good - the piggy in the middle, the middle of the road, being 'middling'. The same goes for being the middle sprog of any family.
"I got lumbered with the oldest’s hand-me-downs, while he got the expensive education and the piano lessons. The idea was that he would teach me, and, funnily enough, that never actually happened. Everyone was too busy praising his scales to notice me.
"Youngest was fussed and cooed over, growing up to be able to play on being the tiny tot at every turn. Parents, desperate to not say goodbye to baby-ing, cling on to the last chance saloon of enjoying infant-hood with their youngest.
"They clutch to that last first day at school, those final exam results, that last one to flee the nest.
"When you’re in the middle, your parents have done it all before, and they’ll be doing it all again. Nothing you do is special.
"Languishing in that middle gap, I ended up the responsible, petty, and dull one. Sorry, Charlotte, but someone needs to tell it to you straight, the same will happen to you.
"You might be used to being treasured by hordes of Royal Watchers, but to get absolutely any attention you’re going to learn that only screaming temper tantrums truly work when cursed as the Madam in the Middle.
"And sooner or later such strops will be rendered useless, so you’ll learn your place. Somewhere quiet, possibly in the corner, being somewhat unremarkable.
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"University experts have found out what I could have told them for free. Middle children, like me, like Charlotte, end up the more envious, least bold, and least talkative one of the brood.
"The boisterous older ones shout and make honourable mistakes. They get praised for messing up, parents celebrating it as a learning curve.
"Younger ones get applauded for simply learning how to burp. All we middle ones can do is hope someone might notice us.
"But they probably won’t.
"Neither Charlotte’s mum or dad will truly understand their little princess’ predicament either. With both Cambridges having been the older siblings, basking in the glory of being the first at everything, they’ll have known nothing of the Middle Child desert.
They claim that middle children grow in to becoming "excellent negotiators" as they are not used to getting their own way, making them "skillful and savvy manipulators".
The study also found them to be "independent, think outside the box, feel less pressure to conform, and are more empathetic."
It was also noted that they are patient as they have had to "wait around more".