King Charles III is a proud grandfather to five royal children, but he only sees three of them on a regular basis.
The monarch is reportedly “frustrated” that his relationship with his two youngest grandchildren is purely virtual.
As Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are living in the United States with their two children, the King is unable to see them in person.
Charles has resorted to making video calls with five-year-old Prince Archie and three-year-old Princess Lilibet as it’s the only way for him to keep in touch with them.
But an expert has claimed he misses seeing them in person.
“Charles misses his son and he misses seeing his grandchildren grow up,” British journalist and author Katie Nicholl said on the Dynasty: The Royal Family’s Most Challenging Year podcast.
“And I think he has become incredibly frustrated that he’s watched Archie and Lilibet grow up on FaceTime.
“And it’s not what he wanted and I think as far as the King is concerned, a little like the late Queen, the door will always be open for Harry.”
Because of his feeling of disconnect with his youngest grandchildren, King Charles has reportedly had discussions about a possible trip to the US to visit them.
“Charles has had discussions about an official visit to the United States at some time in the future,” royal expert Tom Quinn told The Mirror.
“And there is no doubt if it goes ahead, he would build in time to visit his youngest son and his grandchildren, but there are mountains of planning to be overcome before that becomes even a remote possibility.”
Tom added that the monarch is “desperate” to visit them and hates the thought that they won’t remember him as the warm and friendly grandfather he wants to be.
It’s also been reported that five-year-old Archie is now old enough to be “aware” of his grandfather’s life and job on the other side of the world.
Experts have claimed that Archie is “desperate” to see the King. Tom Quinn told The Mirror, “Many of Archie’s books are about kings, princesses and castles and he knows enough to know that his grandfather lives in a castle.
“He is apparently desperate to come to the UK with his father, but Meghan and Harry don’t want to encourage this.”
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex in particular reportedly fears her son will grow up to idealise his British heritage and doesn’t want the country to become a “longed-for-fantasy” for the young royal.
As for Lilibet, she was born in the US and has reportedly only met King Charles in person once.
At the time, it was reported that the King was “absolutely thrilled” by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s visit in 2022.
“He hadn’t met Lili, his granddaughter, and so to meet her was very emotional, a very, very wonderful thing,” a source said.
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