15 Ways the Royal Kids Quietly Honored Queen Elizabeth

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's first child was a boy, so they couldn't really name him after the queen — but they did name him after the Queen Elizabeth's beloved father, George VI. He died in 1952, making the then-Princess Elizabeth the new reigning monarch. One day when little Prince George is king, he'll carry on the legacy of the queen's father's royal name.

When Will and Kate had a girl as their second child, that was their chance to honor all the important women in their lives. Charlotte comes from Kate's sister, Pippa's, middle name. Charlotte's two middle names — Elizabeth and Diana — of course, honor the queen, and William's mother, Princess Diana. They got it all in with one kid.

The annual Trooping the Colour parade is a celebration for the queen's birthday. All the important royals come out to honor the event, including the royal children. Prince George has been going since 2015, and his siblings joined when they were old enough as well. Archie was supposed to attend his first Trooping in 2020 to commemorate his great-grandma, but the event was canceled.

Another way the royal kids show their affection for the queen is via a sweet nickname. Reportedly, Prince George and Princess Charlotte — and presumably Prince Louis and Archie when they start talking — call the queen "Gan-Gan." It's an age-old tradition for the great-grandmother of the family to be referred to as such, with William and Harry also calling the Queen Mother Gan-Gan when they were young.

A milestone birthday called for a special family portrait. All of Queen Elizabeth's young grandchildren and great-grandchildren joined her for a picture. Baby Princess Charlotte even got to sit on the queen's lap! We love that Charlotte is subtly matching the queen in a pale pink sweater.

Also to commemorate the queen's 90th birthday, the future kings all joined Queen Elizabeth for a special portrait that would later be used on an official stamp. We adore Prince George here, standing on a stack of objects to be tall enough —and like how Charlotte coordinated with the queen in the other photo. (Prince George wore blue for this one to match his great-grandma.)

A year later, for the queen's 91st birthday, Prince William revealed that his young children usually make their great-grandmother's gifts by hand. "It's quite hard to know what to give the Queen for her 91st birthday," William said. "Now [with] the great-grandchildren around, you see, they can make stuff and that goes down really well. It doesn't matter what it looks like." He added that George, in particular, was excellent at those sorts of arts and crafts.

Prince Louis was christened on July 9, 2018, surrounded by his family. The queen was not in attendance at the time, but her presence was felt through a special nod to her. July 9 is also the day that the queen announced her engagement to Prince Philip back in 1947. Now, there are two special royal milestones to celebrate on that day.

According to the Daily Mail, when Prince George turned 6 in 2019, he reportedly requested a small party with just his close family members. That, of course, includes the queen, whom the Daily Mail reports has a special bond with George. Queen E supposedly always leaves presents on George's bed when he visits her.

Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and Archie may have skipped the 2019 Christmas celebrations with the queen, but William and Kate's three children all made an appearance at the Queen Elizabeth's annual Christmas luncheon. For the first time, Charlotte and George also attended Christmas mass with their great-grandmother.

After the Christmas church service ended and the queen left, Kate Middleton gave a customary curtsy to the monarch. Copying her mom, Charlotte also gave a sweet little curtsy to the queen's departing car. It's one of the first ones the public has seen from Charlotte, and it was so cute.

When little Princess Charlotte turned 5, the Cambridges released some new photos of Charlotte to commemorate the big day. Royal fans were quick to notice that the dress Charlotte's wearing is a houndstooth pattern. That happens to also be one of the queen's favorite patterns to wear. We'd like to think that Charlotte's dress was a subtle nod to the reigning monarch.

The birthday portraits aren't the first time that Princess Charlotte has dressed just like her great-grandmother. Charlotte's green coat from the 2019 Christmas celebrations is nearly identical to one that the queen wore several months earlier to an April 2019 horse racing meet. We know that Kate Middleton often dresses Charlotte to match herself, but maybe on Christmas, Kate wanted Charlotte to match Queen Elizabeth.

Although they look even more alike when they wear coordinating outfits, Charlotte is always sort of paying homage to the queen just by virtue of how much Charlotte looks like her. Photos of a young Queen Elizabeth (pictured here) could just as easily be photos of Princess Charlotte. Those royal genes run strong.

Meghan and Harry's son, Archie, is only 1 year old, so he hasn't had too many chances to honor his great-grandmother. But he did recently join Meghan and Harry on a video call to the queen for her 94th birthday. Apparently, the monarch commented on how Archie's inherited his dad's red hair. So cute!