King Charles is reportedly “very sad” at the lack of contact he has had with two of his grandchildren Prince Archie, six, and Princess Lilibet, three. The monarch, 76, has only met his youngest son Prince Harry’s children very few times, with Harry and his wife Meghan Markle choosing to relocate to America five years ago after stepping down from royal life.

Since then, the couple’s children have only returned to the UK once in 2022, with Harry claiming he does not feel like his home country is a safe place for his children to visit. After losing his court appeal over his UK taxpayer-funded security rights earlier this month, the prince told the BBC: “I can’t see a world in which I would bring my wife and children back to the UK at this point.”

This means that the chances of the King – who is reportedly not even on talking terms with Harry anymore – has a very slim chance of changing his distant relationship with his two youngest grandchildren.

An insider close to the monarch told Grazia that this makes Charles “very sad”, especially as his relationship with Harry, 40, also seems to have deteriorated over the years.

This is a result of the duke’s actions, which involve speaking out about private family matters and blaming the monarchy and Royal Household for a number of things.

The source said: “The King does not like conflict and he would love for this all to be resolved. But Harry has to earn the trust back.

“The ball is in his court in that respect. The King loves his son and he is very sad he has not spent any time with Archie and Lilibet, but Harry hasn’t made reconciliation easy.”

The source continued: “He’s (the King) a magnanimous man, not a malicious one. But his priority is the preservation of the monarchy.”

While Charles may not be close to his two youngest grandchildren, he does have a good relationship with his eldest son Prince William’s three children Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, seven.

He also has a good relationship with Queen Camilla’s grandchildren, with Her Majesty previously saying her husband is great with her grandchildren.

She once said: “My grandchildren adore him, absolutely adore him.”