SHE arrived fashionably late, and her designer style has already caused a stir worldwide.

The new royal baby made her first public appearance wrapped in a shawl made by the same company that presented swaddling to her father and brother at birth. The princess's shawl has clocked up so many column inches it practically has its own spin-off TV show. Then there was her headwear - the "non-matching bonnet", as one newspaper described it.

Princess Charlotte will have to get used to her every appearance being relentlessly scrutinised - but I do hope she makes her mark in life for much more than what she's wearing.

The royal infant has made history by taking an automatic place in the line of succession, regardless of her gender. She may be a "spare" rather than an heir, but as fourth in line to the throne she has potential to make a significant impact on a generation of women.

She will have a life of immense privilege, but in her case that should come with a sense of responsibility too. I hope her pampered lifestyle doesn't strip her of a work ethic. I hope her world-class education leaves her with more than a couple of poor A-level grades and a backdoor place on a Mickey Mouse university course. I hope that if she takes a job, rather than endless holidays, it involves more than re-arranging the postcards in a Parisian art gallery. I hope that, like the grandmother and great-grandmother she was named after, she's not afraid of occasionally getting her hands dirty, doing her bit in times of crisis, or making a humanitarian impact.

We live in an age when young women are idolised and vilified for how they look. Women who become famous for marrying footballers, flirting in whirlpools on reality shows, and having their bodies pumped up or starved out land their own TV shows and magazine columns, and end up as dubious role models for little girls who deserve better.

On the eve of a General Election, we should be reminded of the women who endured imprisonment, force-feeding, humiliation, violence and self-sacrifice a century ago, so that future generations of females would have the right to vote.

Watching a recent TV news report on young voters, I cringed as three 18-year-old girls, newly eligible to vote, said they wouldn't bother visiting their polling station. "I don't do politics," muttered one, taking a slug of her milk-shake.

You don't have to be a political science professor to know that politics affects all our lives pretty much all the time.

Princess Charlotte won't have the right to vote, but I hope she can inspire young women to make their own valuable impact on the world around them.