Prince Archie, the first-born child of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, is celebrating his sixth birthday today, but his grandfather King Charles will be absent from the festivities
King Charles misses grandson’s birthday due to family feud
King Charles faces a bittersweet day as his grandson, Prince Archie, turns six while residing in the USA. Archie came into the world on May 6, 2019, and the Royal family welcomed him with open arms.
Yet, before Archie’s first birthday candles were blown out, his parents, Prince Harry, 40, and Meghan Markle, 43, whisked him away from the UK when they left their Royal life and set up home in the States. This move shattered Charles’s aspirations of nurturing a close relationship with his fourth grandchild; it has been since 2022, during the Sussexes’ attendance at the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee festivities, that Charles last saw Archie.
Now, Archie grows up in America with his three year old sister, Princess Lilibet, who was born in 2021. With Prince Harry demanding taxpayer coverage for his children’s security in order to consider a visit to the UK, Charles’s opportunities to bond with his grandchildren seem slim.
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This predicament starkly differs from the moment of Archie’s arrival when Charles, presently aged 76, joyously declared he “couldn’t be more delighted” by his new grandson, a sentiment reflecting the profound love he has for Archie.
The Sussexes(Image: Toby Melville – Pool/Getty Images)
A couple of days after Archie joined the family, his private baptism differed notably from the pomp normally seen at Royal occasions. To mark the occasion, the former Clarence House Instagram account, which belonged to Charles then, shared a photo capturing the erstwhile Prince of Wales gazing fondly at his infant grandson.
The gap between an affectionate grandfather King Charles and his grandson has widened, now stretched across oceans—a circumstance surely troubling the king deeply, according to former BBC Royal correspondent Jennie Bond.
While talking to the Mirror, Bond shared: “[Charles] always loved Harry – he called him ‘darling boy’. And I’m sure he still loves Harry and would love even more to be able to spend time with Archie and Lilibet.”
Bond went on to say, “Charles is a sentimental man and a doting grandfather to George, Charlotte and Louis. And I’m sure as his struggle with cancer continues, he thinks more about the great loss of not being able to spend time with Harry’s children.”
She further hinted that “It would be very nice if the King, and William and Catherine, marked young Archie’s sixth birthday in some way. After all, it’s not the poor little lad’s fault that all this has happened. So I hope that, either publicly or privately, they do at least send the little boy their good wishes.”
Nonetheless, prospects for reconciliation between Harry and his family appear slim following his recent BBC interview where he expressed his grievances once more. The Duke of Sussex’s exasperation came to a head after his bid to have UK security reinstated was denied, a move he perceives as resulting from a systematic fix-up.
The future seems grim for young Prince Archie’s relationship with his Royal cousins, namely Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. The division appears to stem from their father, Prince William, who is rumored to have the intent to cut ties and possibly even revoke titles once he becomes king, leaving the connection between these Royal children on shaky ground.
“Harry probably has more time and reason than William to think about the rift that he has caused and I’m sure it is a great sadness to him,” Bond said.