Meet King Charles III’s Grandchildren Amid His Cancer Battle: ‘Important to Create a Bond’ He Says

Prince George

Charles’ eldest grandson, Prince George, calls William and Princess Kate Middleton mom and dad. As the first royal baby to be born to the Waleses, George took on the mantle and has helped his siblings as they’ve gotten used to royal life. Watchers will admit, however, that George has a quieter demeanor than his sister, and it’s an element of his personality that Charles has picked up on.

While commenting on the anxiety George felt leading up to his first day of school, the monarch said in a viral video, “Oh, poor old thing. it’s being left there to have get on with it when the parents go away that’s always the problem. It’s good for you in the end I suppose. It’s character building.”

Princess Charlotte

While Charles seems to have more of a guiding presence in George’s life, he presents as a truly sweet grandfather to his granddaughter Princess Charlotte. Revealing that he was “thrilled” to be blessed with a granddaughter when Charlotte was born, Charles admitted sweetly that he hopes Charlotte will “look after” him when he is “very old.”

Prince Louis

Of all his grandchildren, Charles appears to share the tightest bond with William and Kate’s youngest, Prince Louis. The little one is a rambunctious spirit who often steals the spotlight, and Charles seems to encourage his grandson’s playfulness. In an endearing moment during the late Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee concert, Louis ran over to his grandfather and asked to sit in his lap. The two cuddled as they took in the music, and it was a photo op if ever one presented itself.

“How utterly charming that was,” an insider told People at the time of the pair’s sweet interaction. “When you consider that he has been said to be a remote parent, to see him do that was charming.”

Prince Archie

Relationships are less friendly between the monarch and his two grandchildren via son Harry, whom he shares with Meghan Markle, and little Prince Archie was at the center of scandal before he was even born. When revealing their experiences within the royal institution in March 2021, Harry and Megan shared that some members of the royal family questioned the color of Archie’s skin tone. While they wouldn’t say who, royal author Omid Scobie’s book Endgame – in a Dutch translation that hit the shelves early – named Charles and Kate as the culprits.

The Dutch translation was promptly taken off the shelves and the publisher, Xander Uitgevers, told ABC News, “An error occurred in the Dutch translation and is currently being rectified.”

In response, Omid told the outlet, “It is of course extremely frustrating and disappointing that the Dutch edition of Endgame contained references to names not included in any other edition of the book, nor the manuscript written, edited, and signed off on by myself. There is now an investigation going on into how this transpired, and I look forward to learning more.”

Needless to say, however, Charles and Archie do not share a particularly close relationship.

Princess Lilibet

Charles’ youngest grandchild is Princess Lilibet, Meghan and Harry’s youngest child. Like her brother, however, she doesn’t have a strong bond with her grandfather. Not only is there an ocean separating the Sussex family from the royals, but the ongoing tension between Harry and the royal family has kept the children at a safe distance. In fact, royal expert Robert Jobson said as part of Hulu documentary Prince Harry’s Mission: Life, Family and the Invictus Games that Charles has “no relationship” with Lilibet and Archie.

“Unfortunately for the King, there is really no relationship between the King and his grandchildren because he hasn’t had the opportunity to forge that relationship,” Jobson said. “Some might say that he should have made more of an effort and reached out. I know he spends a lot of time when he gets the chance with William’s children, George, and Louis, and I’m sure he would spend as much time if he could if Harry and Meghan were based in England. But they’re not. So, I just don’t think there is any particular bond between them.”