Princess Charlotte Has Joined a Competitive Netball Team That Travels England & William and Catherine Are on the Touchline for Every Match

Aug 20, 2026 by apost team

Catherine, Princess of Wales, captained the hockey team at Marlborough College. She played volleyball in wedges at a charity event. She completed the Three Peaks Challenge. She is, by general agreement, one of the most naturally athletic members of the royal family. And now, according to reporting by The Mail on Sunday confirmed by Hello! Magazine, her daughter is heading in exactly the same direction.

Princess Charlotte, 11, has joined an out-of-school netball team that competes at a high level across England. She is not playing casually — the team travels the country for fixtures, which means early starts, long drives, and parents in camping chairs on the touchline. William and Catherine are, by all accounts, doing all of that alongside every other parent.

"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 told The Mail on Sunday. "It's all very hands on and 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."

Charlotte's interest in the sport goes back further than most people realized. In April 2026, Notting Hill & Ealing High's junior netball team revealed on Instagram that they had enjoyed "a memorable quarter-final win (10–5) against Lambrook, where the girls enjoyed playing against Princess Charlotte." She also plays for the school itself. And in 2023, Catherine met England netball player Ama Agbez at a SportsAid event and mentioned she had been teaching Charlotte to shoot. "She's still got it," Agbez told PEOPLE.

The Wales family watched the netball semi-finals at the 2026 Commonwealth Games on August 1. Charlotte was in the stands, watching professionals play a sport she now plays herself.

Netball is one of the most popular team sports in the United Kingdom, particularly among girls and women. It resembles basketball in structure — players aim to get the ball through a hoop — but with key differences: there is no dribbling, and a player who catches the ball cannot move with it. It requires quick passing, spatial awareness, and coordination. Catherine has demonstrated all three over the years at SportsAid events and charity engagements, and was described by Agbez as still very much capable at the sport.

Charlotte has also been described as a fan of running and gymnastics. Prince William confirmed at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow that she "loves gymnastics and ballet." She has watched her mother climb mountains, run races, and show up to school sports days fully committed to whatever is in front of her. The competitive netball team is the latest expression of an athleticism that appears to have been absorbed rather than formally taught.

Catherine spoke about sport at St. Andrews in Berkshire in 2012 in terms that now read like a prediction. "It was while I was here at school that I realized my love of sport," she said. "Sport has been a huge part of my life, and I feel incredibly grateful for the opportunities I had to get outside and play in such wonderful open spaces."

Charlotte, 11, is now playing competitive netball across England on weekends, with her mother on the touchline and every parent in the car park quietly wondering if they are about to bump into the future Queen. She is not yet 12. The apple, as ever, has not fallen far from the tree.

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Are you a fan of Princess Charlotte and the Wales family? Do you think it is wonderful that she is following her mother Catherine's love of sport? Let us know in the comments and pass this on to your family, friends, and other royal fans out there!