Princess Charlotte received a gift during her first-ever Christmas walk that she couldn’t bear to part with.
The 4-year-old royal was given a bouquet of gorgeous white roses by a 6-year-old boy as she walked with her mother, Kate Middleton, outside the Church of St. Mary Magdalene on Wednesday, but when it came time to hand them over to a royal aide, Charlotte didn’t want to let go of the sweet gift.
The boy, James Heather, picked out the flowers especially for the princess and waited hours for the chance to give them to her, his mother Nakita told The Mirror.
“We’d been queuing since about half 8, and James was really keen to see Charlotte,” Nakita told the outlet, adding that “he had chosen the flowers himself and picked those because he knows they are my favorite.”
James, who managed to get to the front of the crowd to wait with the roses, was spotted by Kate, 37, as the royal family left the church and interacted with the people waiting outside.
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“When they left the church, Kate came over and said, ‘Are these for Charlotte?’ and then James said, ‘yes,’ and handed them over,” Nakita added to The Mirror. “Charlotte looked really shy and coy, but you could tell she was happy and then she said ‘thank you.'”
Nakita said that her son “was so excited” to have successfully gifted the flowers to the princess, but added, “I think he was quite starstruck by her.”
“What made it all even sweeter was I watched her as she walked off and other people were giving her flowers, which were handed to her protection officer, but she just wouldn’t let go of James’,” Nakita said. “She kept them in her hand the whole time.”
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Charlotte’s 6-year-old brother Prince George also made his Christmas walk debut on Wednesday, and they were all joined by Prince William, 37, and grandfather Prince Charles, 71, in the English countryside.
Before greeting the public and receiving her flowers, Charlotte showed off her royal etiquette by executing an adorable curtsy as her 93-year-old great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth headed back home to continue the holiday festivities.
In addition to her sweet interaction with James, Charlotte also gave a hug to a woman in a wheelchair and carried around an inflatable pink flamingo gifted to her by another well-wisher.
