It was one of the most endearing moments in the entire weekend of celebratory events to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee last year.
After two hours of watching a pageant pass by in the street below the stands where he was sitting with his family, young Prince Louis, only just four, had had enough. He wriggled in his seat, he pulled faces and when his mother, the then Duchess of Cambridge, tried to placate him, he gave her a rude gesture and grabbed her face. His older sister Princess Charlotte told him off and his dad Prince William tried to distract him.
And then the unruly prince looked along the row and spotted his grandfather, the then Prince Charles. Moments later, he’d plonked himself on Grandpa’s knee, where he was bounced up and down and rocked from side to side in time with the music from the parade. Charles kept the bored lad occupied by pointing out what was going on.
Charles in charge: When Louis’ face-pulling antics got too much for his mum, only Grandad could calm down the lively lad.
It was a particularly poignant and telling moment because it showed Charles is not the formal, stuffy patriarch many people imagine him to be. “When you consider he is said to be a remote parent, to see him do that was charming,” commented a royal observer.
Being a doting grandfather is truly important to Charles, especially as he never had a close relationship with either of his grandfathers. His paternal grandfather, Prince Philip’s father Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, died in 1944, four years before he was born. He was only three when his mother’s father, King George VI, died on February 6, 1952. Although he did spend a fair amount of time with his grandpa in the first few years of his life, he doesn’t remember him. “I think it’s a tragedy that I never really knew my grandfather,” he has since said.
Charles has little memory of grandad George. Left: Cuddles for Louis on his second birthday.
But he was very close to his grandmother, the Queen Mother. With parents who were somewhat emotionally distant, as well as not actually physically there for much of the time, the strongest bond he forged as a child was with his beloved Granny. She nurtured and spoiled Charles, lavishing hugs, kisses and praise on the youngster.
He would climb on her lap so she could read him fairytales or tell him stories of her childhood, and she introduced him to art, history, books, music and dance. Charles relished the time he got to spend with her, later describing her as “the most magical grandmother you could possibly have”.
Charles has tried to create some memorable magic for his grandchildren since the arrival of Prince George a decade ago.
He and Camilla were in Yorkshire on an official visit when daughter-in-law Kate gave birth to George on July 22, 2013. They flew by helicopter to London, where a full police escort rushed them to St Mary’s Hospital to meet the new heir to the throne.
They stayed for only 10 minutes before returning to Yorkshire to continue their engagements. The next day, Charles admitted to members of the public he met that he had cracked open the bubbly the night before and was “thrilled and overjoyed” about becoming a grandfather for the first time.
Camilla also seemed very excited. “It’s a wonderfully uplifting moment for the country,” she said, adding that Charles would make a “wonderful grandfather. He’s very good with children.”
The Prince of Wales marked his 70th birthday with a sweet family photo. Back row, from left: Kate, Louis, William, Harry and Meghan. Front row: George, Camilla and Charlotte.
While that may have been the case, it was obvious from the start that Kate’s parents Carole and Michael Middleton would have a bigger role in George’s life. The new mum and her wee son stayed with them at their Berkshire home for the first six weeks of George’s life while William commuted to his work in Wales as a search and rescue pilot, and Carole has been a constant presence in all of her grandchildren’s lives.
Years later, Charles was heard grumbling that the Middletons spent much more time with his grandchildren than he did.
William has acknowledged the imbalance, but is philosophical about Charles’ limitations. “He’s a wonderful grandfather, but he’s just so busy,” he told a friend.
Meanwhile, George’s arrival changed some family traditions. When he was small, Kate and William spent most of the Christmas holidays with Kate’s parents in Berkshire, putting in only the obligatory appearance at the Christmas Day church service at Sandringham. It was several years before they took George to Sandringham for Christmas, telling the Queen that he was such a boisterous toddler they feared he would overwhelm the family gathering. Her Majesty understood, but Charles was reported to be a little put out that his grandson was spending special occasions with the other side of the family.
However, following Charlotte’s birth in 2015, Charles was again beaming with happiness. He vowed to “spoil her, absolutely”.
William admitted his father was “positively obsessed” with the new princess. “As the father of sons, it was something he was missing.”
The proud grandpa told members of the public on one engagement that “Charlotte is simply gorgeous, a beautiful child.” He added that, “She already sleeps through the night and is much easier on Mum than George.”
After Louis was born in 2018, Charles realised the ball was in his court if he wanted to see more of his grandkids. He installed a playground with swings and slides at his country home Highgrove, and upgraded a treehouse originally built for William and Harry. George and Charlotte, and now Louis, love exploring the grounds of the Cotswolds mansion and the King has got over his hang-ups about them damaging his precious gardens. “My husband used to wince when he saw them running through the daffodils,” Camilla once told a visitor. “Now he thinks they’re absolutely hysterical. He loves it!”
The younger generation stole the show at last year’s Trooping the Colour flypast, the last for the Queen.
In private, Charles is not at all formal and he’s particularly laid-back and loving when the grandchildren are around. He’s very tactile, often picking up the children and smothering them in hugs and kisses. Camilla has described how Charles will “get down on his knees and crawl about with them for hours, making funny noises and laughing”.
He’s also great with Camilla’s five grandkids. “My grandchildren absolutely adore him,” she has revealed. “He reads Harry Potter and he can do all the different voices – I think children really appreciate that.”
Charles says his grand-parenting is inspired by his memories of his grandmother, the Queen Mother.
“The great thing is to encourage them,” he once said. “Show them things to take their interest. My grandmother did that – she was wonderful. It’s very important to create a bond when they are very young.”
Sadly, he hasn’t been able to create those bonds with his two youngest grandchildren, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
Archie was seven months old when his parents Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, took him on holiday to Canada and never returned to the UK to live. Now the family is based in California, and the rift that is growing increasingly wider since the Sussexes left their royal roles means Charles may never get to know Archie and Lilibet very well. He did not get to see his youngest granddaughter until she was a year old and travelled to the UK for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022.
“He hadn’t met Lili, so it was very emotional,” tells a palace source. “He was also very happy to see Archie. It was a wonderful thing to have them back in Britain.”
Charles with Prince Harry at Archie’s christening in 2019.
The part he gets to play in their lives now hinges on his relationship with their parents.
But chances are, he will not get to bounce them on his knee or read them stories very often.
“It’s sad because it’s not just the King who is missing out – it is Archie and Lili,” says a royal observer. “Their mother Meghan is estranged from her father Thomas Markle, so they don’t have a devoted grandad in their daily lives. And by all accounts, Charles is a fabulous one.”
