King Charles may not have seen nearly as much of grandchildren Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet as he would have liked, but that’s something he’s dead set on rectifying in the future.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the fallout from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s decision to leave the Royal Family – and then go on to tell the world everything that’s wrong with it – has created a messy maelstrom where their relations to the British monarchy are concerned.
A byproduct if that is that the Sussexes don’t return to the UK often, and a byproduct of that is that their children, Archie and Lilibet, are growing up without the opportunity to forge loving, lasting bonds with the British half of their family.
Yet while Harry and Meghan’s strained relationship with the likes of King Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince William, and Kate Middleton shows very little outward signs of improvement, there is at least one person who is desperate to find some light in amongst all the darkness.
According to the Daily Mirror, King Charles has told friends that he’s less than content with only getting to see Archie, 5, and Lilibet, 3, on occasional video calls. The outlet claims the monarch has only met Archie a handful of times, and Lilibet just once.
Last week it was reported that the King had extended his birthday wishes to Lilibet as she turned three, along with a gift. It was also speculated that Charles had arranged for a more lavish present, but would hold back on that until such a time as tensions between the monarchy and Harry and Meghan have eased slightly.
Following his shock cancer diagnosis earlier this year, Charles has scaled back his public engagements as he undergoes treatment. Friends of the King have now claimed that he’s “keener than ever” to focus on his family, and wants to “make up for lost time”.
While opportunities for him to meet Archie and Lilibet have been virtually non-existent, Charles is believed to be a doting grandfather to his grandchildren via his eldest son, Prince William.
Unlike their cousins, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis enjoy healthy relationships with their grandfather, who has been described as a “fantastic and enthusiastic grandpa”.
According to the Mirror, a source revealed: “The King is absolutely committed to being present in all of his grandchildren’s lives. He values family above everything and whatever the course of his relationship with his son he would never be content with just seeing his grandchildren on the odd video call.”
Just how Charles will go about broaching the subject with Harry and Meghan remains to be seen, especially since the Sussexes have appeared resolute in their stance that they were repeatedly wronged by the monarchy while still working members.
Following their decision to retire from royal life, Harry and Meghan took the virtually unprecedented step of going public with their frustrations, first in a bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, then via their candid Netflix series.
Finally came Harry’s tell-all memoir, Spare, in which he pulled no punches while airing the grievances that plagued his days as a working royal.
