More than just a monarch: How King Charles became beloved Grandpa Wales

It’s a heart-warming image – baby Prince Louis, now five and best known for his public displays of cheekiness, reaches out and grabs the then-Prince Charles’s nose.

As Prince William and Kate, as well as Prince Harry and Meghan, smile warmly at the little boy’s antics, the official portrait released in 2019 shows a loving unit posing together for a family photo. 

It also shows Charles in a lesser-seen light: a dedicated grandfather, laughing as a young Prince George sits on his lap and Princess Charlotte crossed-legged by his side.

While he may be King Charles III, head of state and passionate environmentalist to most of us, to his five grandchildren and five step-grandchildren, he’s merely Grandpa Wales – a figure of fascination and fun.

As a young boy, Charles was particularly close to his grandmother Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother.

‘Charles was her favourite grandchild,’ royal correspondent Charles Rae tells Metro. ‘They formed a really close relationship. When the late Queen ascended to the throne, she was away learning how to rule. The Queen Mother was constantly there for him.’

The Queen Mother has served as a role model in which the King has based his own relationship with his grandchildren.

‘The great thing is to encourage [grandchildren],’ he said in a 2013 interview. ‘Show them things to take their interest. My grandmother did that, she was wonderful. It is very important to create a bond when they are very young.’

King Charles was quick to establish a close relationship with Prince George, his eldest grandson, when he was born in 2013.

As well as restoring a treehouse for him that Prince William and Prince Harry played in as boys, Charles regularly played with his grandson – the pair even pretending to have tea parties together.

The monarch was also keen to pass on his love for the environment to George when he was just a tot.

‘I got George planting a tree or two here, so we planted it together and shovelled in the earth,’ he told BBC Radio 4’s Gardener’s Question Time.

Charles Rae argues that it’s only natural that George may receive a little more special attention than some of his other grandchildren as he is second in line to the throne, due to inherit the crown after his father Prince William.

‘He [Charles] is going to be more hands-on,’ he explains. ‘He will be part of the process of teaching George about kingship.’

However, it is thought that seven-year-old Princess Charlotte is the monarch’s favourite grandchild. Widely reported to have wanted a daughter when married to Princess Diana, Charlotte’s birth in 2015 was said to have left the King elated, adding he intended to ‘spoil her rotten’.

‘I was hoping for a granddaughter,’ he told the press. ‘Someone to look after me when I am very old.’

However, Charles adds that the King loves all of his grandchildren, as well as his step-grandchildren that he shares with second wife, Camilla Parker Bowles. The Queen Consort reported that he would regularly read the Harry Potter books to them ‘and does all the voices’.

‘It is a great joy to have another grandchild,’ King Charles said in 2018 upon the arrival of Prince Louis. ‘The only trouble is I don’t know how I’m going to keep up with them all.’

His grandparenting skills have been greatly admired by Prince William, who admitted he wished Charles was around more to help out with his expanding brood.

‘When he’s there, he’s brilliant,’ the Prince of Wales said in 2018. ‘But we need him there as much as possible.’

It may be somewhat surprising to hear King Charles is so involved in the lives of the younger royals, particularly after the release of Spare, where Prince Harry suggested Charles was loving but somewhat aloof towards him.

‘That couldn’t be further from the truth,’ Charles Rae explains. ‘Diana was a brilliant, overtly affectionate mother, who would swoop her boys in for a huge hug – that’s the image we all remember of her. But that doesn’t mean Charles wasn’t affectionate too. What people didn’t see is that Charles gave the boys the same loving hug that his mother had given.

‘The sadness of this feud has meant Charles can’t see Archie and Lilbet as much. He’d love to see them, he’d love to have them around.

‘We have to remember he’s different to other grandparents – he’s 74 and he’s still working.

‘But he spends an awful lot of time with his grandchildren, as much time as possible. He loves being a warm and loving grandfather.’

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Kimberley.Bond@metro.co.uk 

Share your views in the comments below.

MORE : King Charles and Queen Camilla unveil Eurovision’s spectacular stage in Liverpool

MORE : The treasures which will have a starring role in King Charles’s coronation

MORE : King Charles and Queen Camilla to unveil Eurovision Song Contest staging and meet Mae Muller and presenters including Rylan Clark