Rapper Lil' Kim made a rare public appearance with her 12-year-old daughter, Royal Reign, at the Amazon Back-to-School Kids Fashion Show in New York City this week. The event, presented by Rookie, took place at Iron 23 in the Flatiron District.
Lil' Kim, 52, and Royal posed for photographers, with the daughter placing her hand on her mother's to form a heart shape. Royal Reign is the daughter of Lil' Kim and rapper Mr. Papers, with whom she was involved from 2012 to 2014 and again from 2020 to 2021.
Royal Reign has previously stepped into the public eye, walking in the Rookie USA children's show at New York Fashion Week in 2023. Lil' Kim has largely kept her daughter's life private but has spoken positively about her in the past, calling Royal her "bestie" and "awesome" in a 2021 interview. She stated she would support Royal if she pursued a music career but would guide her to avoid past mistakes.
Lil' Kim, who has been open about past plastic surgery, has a notably different appearance from her 1990s public image. In 2005, she discussed undergoing a nose job to correct damage from abuse in a past relationship. At the time, she told radio host Angie Martinez that such speculation did not bother her, asserting, "I'm beautiful. I love myself!"
She acknowledged then that she could be "obsessive" with certain procedures and admitted to being "a little too vain at the time," but insisted that her decisions were not rooted in low self-esteem. She later disclosed that her relationship with The Notorious B.I.G. was "very violent," and in 1999, she revealed she had an abortion while they were together, feeling that bringing a child into their difficult relationship "couldn't take place."
The rapper, born Kimberly Denise Jones, was discovered by The Notorious B.I.G. in the 1990s, who brought her into his group Junior M.A.F.I.A.