Princess of Wales takes Charlotte to watch Cinderella ahead of her 8th birthday 

Princess Charlotte enjoyed a day at the ballet ahead of her eighth birthday as her mother, the Princess of Wales, took her on a special day out in London.

The young royal, who will turn eight tomorrow, was at Cinderella with her mother Kate, 41, which was being performed at the Royal Opera House on Saturday afternoon.

As a Twitter user confirmed her surprise at seeing the royal mother and daughter in the audience, a video on Instagram showed the Princess of Wales going up to her daughter who was on stage.

In the clip, the lucky birthday girl had been brought on with the performers and shyly smiles while proud mother Kate makes a fuss of her.

Charlotte, who is wearing a sweet fuchsia dress with frills and has her hair in a bun, can also be seen waving an illuminated wand while she appears to be joined onstage by her pals.

In another clip, Charlotte and the other girls take to the stage as glitter falls upon them as the princess raises her hands in the air to try and catch it. 

The princess’s trip to the ballet comes ahead of her eighth birthday, which she will celebrate on Tuesday – although of course, Charlotte will be at school on the day.

And the family will be unable to hold birthday celebrations this coming weekend as they will be busy marking King Charles’s coronation instead.

The young royal will join her father the Prince of Wales, her mother Kate, older brother Prince George, nine and younger brother Prince Louis, five, in the coronation procession.

The young royal (pictured on Easter Sunday with her mother) was lucky enough to be invited on stage at the end of the show

It was reported last week that the royal siblings will sit in a carriage with their parents behind King Charles and Queen Camilla, who will travel in the Gold State Coach.

The Waleses will be joined by the Princess Royal, her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke of Kent and Princess Alexandra. 

Princess Anne, who is a former Olympic equestrian, will ride horseback behind the gold state coach that will carry Charles and Camilla down The Mall.

This role is formally given the title of Gold-Stick-in-Waiting, a position that has historically been given to the person trusted with looking after the Monarch’s safety.

Prince Andrew, Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie and Prince Harry are not expected to participate.

After much speculation about whether the Sussexes would attend the coronation or not, it was confirmed last month that Prince Harry would be flying into London to be at Westminster Abbey for the ceremony, but Meghan would remain in Montecito, California with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

But it was reported at the weekend that the Duke’s visit to the UK would be fleeting and it was unlikely he’d stick around for very long as he is eager to return to the US for Prince Archie’s fourth birthday – which is also on Saturday.

The ceremony to formally crown the King is set to start at 11am and will last for around two hours. Harry will then be in he air around two hours later at 3pm.

The historic ceremony will be the first time Harry will be pictured with the Windsors since the funeral of his grandmother the late Queen, and the first time since lambasting the royals in his memoirs.