Princess Charlotte is a keen runner, says her dad Prince William

The Prince of Wales has said his daughter, Princess Charlotte, is a keen runner and closely watched the Olympics.

He made the comments to British Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson, who was honoured by the prince at Windsor Castle.

Hodgkinson was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) after winning gold in the 800m at the Paris Olympics and being named Sports Personality of the Year in 2024.

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Prince William presented the MBE during an investiture at the castle on Tuesday.

During their encounter, William told Hodgkinson that Princess Charlotte, 10, watched her win gold in the 800 metres during the Olympic Games in Paris.

He also said that he “wished” he had seen her victory in person.

Speaking to the PA news agency following the investiture Hodgkinson said: “The prince told me his daughter is doing the 400m at the minute and the hurdles and that she did watch me in Paris.

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“He told me that he remembers me winning and that he wished he could be there to see it himself.”

She said it was “really nice” to be honoured by Prince William, adding that the “whole experience has been amazing”.

Being active and involved in sport is a trait shared by all within the Wales family.

Both the Prince and Princess of Wales are keen competitors and spoke about their love of a good game when they joined Mike Tindall on his hugely popular rugby podcast The Good, the Bad & the Rugby in an episode filmed recorded in the Green Drawing Room at Windsor Castle, in September 2023.

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Prince William and Kate both spoke about their competitive nature, with the Princess of Wales jokingly denying that she was competitive at all, saying her family was always “very active”.

Challenged by fellow host James Haskell that she and her husband are “super, super competitive”, Kate said, “I’m not that competitive”, while her husband laughed and winked.

She added: “I don’t think we’ve actually managed to finish a game of tennis. It becomes a mental challenge between the two of us.”

William agreed: “It’s who can out-mental the other.”

Kate said that Charlotte played rugby and soccer, both of which “weren’t school sports when I was growing up.”

“Charlotte’s playing both the sports now, and it’s really good to see youngsters, particularly girls, playing these types of sports now,” she told the podcast.

A year earlier, Kate revealed that Princess Charlotte had shown an interest in gymnastics.

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Making the comments during a visit to the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham Kate said: ”Charlotte spends most of her time upside-down, doing handstands and cartwheels”.

More recently, Charlotte accompanied her mother to Wimbledon in 2024.

And it’s clear the couple’s other children are following in their parents’ sporting footsteps.

Prince George, 11, is often seen cheering in the stands at football matches alongside his father and is said to be an Aston Villa fan, too.

The youngest Wales child, Prince Louis, is known to enjoy cricket, along with games of rugby with his siblings.

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