Princess Charlotte's style is now more influential than the Duchess of Cambridge's

The royal family’s effect on our wardrobes isn’t surprising but many will be shocked to find that it isn’t the Duchess of Cambridge who is proving to be the most inspirational style-wise.

Instead, it’s Kate’s two-year-old daughter, Princess Charlotte, who has caused a stir on the fashion scene.

Top reselling site eBay has compiled a report looking at our shopping habits in 2017. In it, they found that searches for Princess Charlotte on the site increased by tenfold on the young royal’s second birthday.

It was all down to the adorable yellow cardigan that Charlotte wore in the official portrait released in May. The knitwear piece instantly sold out at John Lewis, sparking plenty of lookalike versions on eBay.

“Princess Charlotte has the biggest ‘spend power’ of the royals this year,” said an eBay spokesman. “Her yellow cardigan worn in her birthday picture sparked the biggest percentage increase in searches for an item of clothing worn by any royal.”

The recent royal tour of Germany saw a similar occurrence. Princess Charlotte donned a cute Liberty print dress that caused searches for her name to increase by six times the normal amount with tons of people searching for the ‘Liberty Dress’ on eBay.

“The royal family are hugely popular with British buyers with Her Majesty regularly attracting the attention of shoppers,” added vice president of trading at eBay, Murray Lambell. “But it’s the youngest generation of royals who really generate the must-have fashion items – and driving a new generation of shopping behaviour on eBay.”

Of course, the Duchess of Cambridge’s style still remains highly popular with the royal’s wardrobe choices helping to boost the sales of British fashion labels around the world.

Two people in the US search for ‘Kate Middleton’ every hour on eBay; that’s double the figure in the UK.

According to the Duchess’s American fans, her best look between 2016 and 2017 was the semi-sheer polka dot dress by British brand Saloni worn for an event at Kensington Palace. The £500 blue design sold out almost immediately, prompting plenty of searches on eBay.

British women, meanwhile, preferred Kate’s pale pink Alexander McQueen dress worn to the wedding of her younger sister, Pippa Middleton, in May.

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