Exclusive: Princess Charlotte's 'wonderful' moment that made royal supplier 'proud'

One might assume that dressing five successive generations of the royal family would become routine, but for Sophie Mirman, creator of the royally beloved Childrenswear brand, Trotters, she still feels "really chuffed and really proud," she says in this exclusive interview. 

"We've had so many wonderful people, both high profile and low profile, through our stores. We've had royals, actors, and singers. We've had the world and his wife through the doors of  Trotters."

Sophie is the scion of two members of "retail royalty": her mother, Simone, was the milliner for the late Queen Elizabeth  and Princess Diana, meaning that, along with her years at the helm of Trotters, they have jointly dressed five generations of royal family members. Meanwhile, her father, Serge, introduced Christian Dior to the UK in the 1950s.

While the Wales children, Prince George, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte have all been photographed wearing Trotters designs, the moment that stands out the most to Sophie was a meaningful festive moment from Princess Charlotte, Sophie explains.

"My favourite moment has to be Princess Charlotte wearing our burgundy velvet collar coat, which matched her mother, the Princess of Wales, for the Christmas carol service. And she wore the same coat for two years, which is wonderful, and it still fitted her, which is even better."

She added: "I'm very proud of what the brand and my colleagues have achieved because my mother was a royal milliner.  I was brought up in that sort of very high fashion environment, and it's wonderful that, you know, the next generations are buying from the same family, and we are a small family business. It's it's wonderful to see when we see one of the young ones wearing our clothing."

As for why she thinks the royals love her designs, Sophie says: "We're so consistent and they're beautiful pieces. I think it's because the quality is excellent, the styling is contemporary but classic. We don't go for big slogans or brash colours. It's classic with a twist."

Royal getsure

Sophie is still unsure if the royal family know about the special familial link of her brilliant hat-maker mother and her Trotters' success, but she did reveal the special gesture the late Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Mother made to her following a terrible family car accident. 

"We had a horrible car crash when I was much younger, and my mother received a wonderful huge bouquet of flowers from the Queen Mother and a lovely letter from the Queen just saying how sorry they were to hear of this awful accident that we'd had and that was wonderful actually. We, of course, still have the letter."

Family first 

Trotters is a complete family affair, with Sophie running the business with her husband, Richard Ross, but it doesn't stop there, she tells us. "We created the business, and our eldest daughter Natasha also works in the business. My son William is also doing some consultancy for us, and my youngest daughter just gives me lots of comments and advice, which is absolutely wonderful.

"When you've got a family business, you inevitably talk about it, so the children, all three children, although some are more involved directly than others, are very much involved in the business, you know, it's, they consider it. It really is a family business."

One of Sophie's most important helpers is her six-year-old granddaughter, whose special role couldn't be more important as Trotters' latest collection is with Disney. 

Sophie runs Trotters with her husband Richard Ross

"I've got a six-year-old granddaughter who is my assistant designer. She's very sweet. She will give me her opinion on things that we can do to maybe improve some of the styles or give me some ideas. She's great, actually.

The new Disney collection is based on all the vintage films, which bodes very well at home. "My granddaughter absolutely adores all the vintage Disney films. She has the Minnie Mouse sweatshirt, as does her mum, my daughter, so it's three generations wearing the same sweatshirts."

"All the pieces are embroidered and appliqued, so they really are quite stunning. It's not just a print on a garment, they are very beautifully made in a small family factory in Portugal," she adds.

"All the pieces in the collection are beautifully made. They're all embroidered and appliqued, so they really are quite stunning. It's not just a print on a garment, they are very beautifully made in a small family factory in Portugal, and we are currently selling them in Selfridges as well as on our own website and in our King's Road store."

Trotters' Disney collection is available in Selfridges, online and their flagship King's Road store.

Prices range from £50 to £80.