Will Princess Charlotte Serve In The Military Someday? It's A Royal Tradition

She's fourth in line for the throne of England, and, at 3, has already made history as being England's first princess not to be overtaken in the line of succession by a male sibling. So will Princess Charlotte serve in the military someday? It's royal tradition, after all.

Both Charlotte's dad Prince William and Uncle Harry served in the Royal Army, as Bustle reported, Prince Charles also has military experience, and her great-grandfather Prince Philip was one of the few royals in combat with the Royal Navy during World War II, the BBC noted.

And if you're just going to assume the answer to the question is "No" merely because the princess is female, guess what? Even Charlotte's gran, Queen Elizabeth II, donned a military uniform during the war, becoming an auto mechanic — the first woman in the royal family to serve full-time, according to reporting from the Associated Press at the time. How's that for cool?

Now that the royal rules have been changed to reflect modern ideas — Charlotte can now rule if it's her turn, as opposed to putting baby Louis over her in the ranking of who would inherit the crown — it stands to reason Charlotte may end up as the first female royal helicopter pilot or medic in the clan. Who knows?

And while the Windsors have typically favored military experience when individuals are still unmarried, as PopSugar noted, it would make total sense for Charlotte to one day follow the same path.

She could plausibly train in some branch of the British military before settling down to full-time royal life, as William and Harry have in the past few years. (Having such a past on their resume has also made for dashing uniforms for the princes on their nuptials, as PopSugar added, adding another option to the princess' future wedding wardrobe.)

But it also turns out, that there may be a precedent for exactly why the royals are attracted to the armed forces.

As Business Insider reported in 2015, although the Queen's power is mostly about presiding over national traditions and ceremonies, if and when the British government declares war or signs a treaty, it is actually doing so because she authorized it.

The Queen also has the power to weigh in on state matters (and circumvent elected officials) in the face of a "grave constitutional crisis," the website noted. So take that, naysayers.

And while she may be more into toys and stuffed animals nowadays, it's not the craziest notion that Charlotte would someday segue into weapons and self-defense training.

After all, London's Independent newspaper reported in fascinating detail in 2017 that a former palace aide confirmed new royals such as Meghan Markle receive security training, just as senior royals have, so that an incoming duchess like Meghan or Kate knows what to do in the event of a kidnapping or other threat.

If all the older royals have undergone such tough training, it stands to reason that Princess Charlotte will be taught how to protect herself too when she's bit older, which means she'd be somewhat prepared for a military career.

There's no telling just yet what the youngster will do for a job when she's older — or how the world may continue to evolve to let her have more choices as a female royal adult. But it does sound like she'll be able to stand up for herself when out and about one day, which is certainly not a bad thing — even if little miss Charlotte ultimately takes a totally different path in life.