I thought it was just me who felt that way. I agree about her beauty, I think it's astonishing. She is more beautiful than even her mother Princess Caroline was at the same age, IMO.
BUT...Caroline had a certain "spirit" about her that Charlotte seems to be lacking....I like to think it's because we knew more about Caroline back then, her passions, her interests, her intellect. Charlotte is probably much shyer and more private, more mysterious.
Still, there seems to be a strange, dead energy around that young woman that I can't quite put my finger on, especially since she has moved to London. Hopefully she has a spark that just doesn't translate well on camera....
What a wonderful expression, "dead energy" ! If I can put in my two cents' worth, we may agree or disagree about who is the fairest of them all, since beauty is all in the eyes of the beholder. I kind of lean toward Caroline being more beautiful, partly because Charlotte can often look "like the girl next door" (yes, there are a lot of beautiful girls out there), as she can "femme fatale". Caroline never looked like "the girl next door" and never really went for a femme fatale look except for photoshoots. Charlotte is definitely more mysterious and hard to pin down.
I'll venture some explanations as to why Caroline showed more "spirit".
1. I think that being raised as the eldest child in a princely family and carrying and understanding the title of princess from birth must have added to a personality that was already and always (from the biographies and so on) a domineering one. She had "attitude" and showed it. It seems that Charlotte always had a more delicate personality for lack of a better word.
2. Her build is different from Charlotte's build, broader, taller. I think that makes a difference in how others perceive you and in turn how you perceive yourself. She has always accentuated that advantage by wearing very high heels from early adolescence on, carrying herself with her shoulders down and pushed back and tilting her head up. Her demeanor is imposing, and add to that her sparkling smile and habit of laughing her heart out when something amuses her, and it gives her that "spirit" lacking in Charlotte, whose often sulky look, unfortunate habit of standing and walking with shoulders hunched over (a habit she seems to have worked on repairing, thank goodness), and, as someone pointed out, not knowing how to walk in high heels, all give her an awkward look. Her heels are usually too high for her figure anyway, they call attention to themselves too much, and it doesn't have the same effect as on Caroline, whose high heels were better proportioned with her figure or outfit and just enhanced her heigth unobstrusively. Caroline had a lot of presence, with a body language which, even on photographs, showed a "need to move". Having been privileged to see her from up close (with press credentials) at the Jubilee picnic in 1974 with her whole family, when she was 17, she had a way of moving that called irresistible attention on to her, without having to put on a "look at me" manner. She seemed to take after Prince Rainier that way, very at ease, whereas Princess Grace looked stiff and wooden and poor Stephanie looked like she wanted to crawl into a hole. Caroline would have been great at "working the crowds" as they say. Her father, in spite of being said to be shy, could obviously conquer that shyness and seemed very jolly and comfortable. I don't think Princess Grace liked crowds. Also, Caroline never shied at the camera, looking straight at the lens with a combination of simplicity and haughtiness.
3. When Caroline was young, her mother looked already quite middle-aged and started looking frumpy and dowdy compared to her lovely daughter who enjoyed being experimental in her clothing. Caroline, until recently, shared the limelight with her daughter in terms of style, youthful appearance, and had not lost that characteristic ebullience and exuberance, even making her daughter sometimes look a bit dull by comparison. Princess Grace was more low-key, at least in public, so from the age of 15 or 16, Caroline got center-stage attention. Caroline often accompanied her mother with little Stephanie in tow (as for Stephanie's first day of school) and somehow, it looked different from when Charlotte and Alexandra and Caroline are together. Charlotte is often more affectionate in public with Alexandra than Caroline ever was with Stephanie (in public), acting more like a benevolent and a little bored second mum than the big sister. (except for posed pictures as in their skiing vacations).
4. Caroline was brought up with duties and public appearances associated with her rank and manifested leadership qualities from early on, whether carrying her own when meeting important people in gala gowns (such as Prince Charles at 19 or so) or leading Red Cross groups of youth through Monaco in her shorts for fund-raising occasions and so on. Being given state enhancing responsibilities from an early age, she was able to strengthen and hone qualities that were in her from the beginning. Remember that even Princess Diana did not really come into her own until she was comfortable in her role as a princess with the attending responsibilities. Being raised as a princess with the entailing "noblesse oblige" behavior may make a difference.