King Charles faces a heartbreaking day as his grandson marks his sixth birthday thousands of miles away in the USA. Prince Archie was born on May 6, 2019 with his arrival met with delight among the royal family.
But parents Prince Harry, 40, and Meghan Markle, 43, took Archie away from his British relatives less than a year later when they quit royal life and decamped to the USA.
The decision destroyed Charles’s chance of a proper relationship with his fourth grandchild, who he has not seen since 2022 when the Sussexes travelled to the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Archie remains in the USA with his three-year-old sister Princess Lilibet, who was born in 2021. Prince Harry has ruled out bringing his children to the UK unless the taxpayer is billed for their security, destroying Charles’s hopes of building a relationship with the pair.
It is all a far cry from when Archie was born. At the time, Charles, 76, declared he “couldn’t be more delighted” with his arrival, highlighting the depth of love he feels for him.
Two days later, Archie was christened in a private ceremony with little of the fanfare usually attached to royal events. To mark the occasion, Charles’s former Clarence House Instagram account shared a picture of the then-Prince of Wales gazing lovingly at his grandson.
Things are very different now, however, with doting granddad and grandson stuck continents apart. That will be a source of great pain to King Charles, according to former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond.
