Bonjour! Welcome to our snark sub on faux feminist Saint Meghan and her hypocrite prince, Harry.
King Charles III once wrote a book based on a story he made up for his younger brothers.
Pictures 2-5 are him with Prince Edward, and the last three Prince Andrew.
KCIII seems to be a very caring and sensitive man. It is very clear he loves his family deeply. He is famously close with Princess Anne, Zara, and there are even pictures of him with one of Camilla’s granddaughters and he’s smiling at her. He was reportedly very upset at Princess Diana’s death, despite being her ex-husband.
In this video he’s showing Prince Edward how the cello works, and a string snaps and hits Edward in the back of the head. Charles is immediately concerned.
There used to be a children's TV show called Jackanory which featured various people reading stories. KC read his own story for that-he has a lovely speaking voice, and he did different voices for various characters, he's definitely got some decent acting skills.
Anyone who has seen him with his grandchildren, especially Louis, knows he's not cold or emotionless, he absolutely dotes on them. Apparently Camilla's grandchildren are all really fond of him too and he's very hands-on. There's a lovely photo that Catherine took of him and William-he's standing with his head leaning on William's shoulder, and the pair of them are grinning fit to burst, it's really sweet. You can't fake that sort of affection.
Awh that’s so wholesome I can’t! 😭
Ditto. As chubalubs says in the comment above - you can't fake that sort of affection.
The ILBW & Harold however, are oh so very unwholesome..
That woman, the so-called 'hugger' is all about attention & affectation.
diana use to set charles up to look bad .the pic of her running up to w@h and hugging them was to get there b4 charles .i watched a documentary showing some of what she did and some older royal rotas talking about it. diana wasnt perfect neither were but both loved the boys
If you watch the documentary about the preparations for the coronation, you see footage taken during rehearsals. Charles and William are giggling and playing around with each other about which cheek is supposed to be kissed. It’s really cute.
Yes!! And William tickled him on the cheek. Too cute. The King commented on his own sausage fingers 🤣
I LOVE THIS!!! I never thought Charles was cold and uncaring. I really had to wonder about Diana’s assessment of him because his actions did not fit what I saw.
A friend of mine was in Scotland years ago. He’s driving to the Balmoral gift shop and he came along and saw a vehicle on the side of the road and a man was standing there, leaning against the car and looking at a golf course.
My friend slowed down, rolling down the window and called out, “Hey, you ok? Did you run out of gas or something?” The man turned around and to my friend’s shock, it was Prince Phillip!!! PP smiled, realizing that he was recognized. He told my friend that he was just watching the golfers. He had noticed my friend’s accent and asked where he came from and he told him that he was from Pittsburgh PA. Prince Phillip asked him what the city was like and they spoke for a few minutes. As my friend was about to continue on his way, he said he was going to the gift shop and Prince Phillip suggested he look at Prince Charles’s book while he was there!
What a memory that is!!! ❤️
That's a lovely interaction.
There's a video on YouTube posted by some cyclists. They were cycling in/near the Balmoral Estate and came across Charles walking on his own. I think the police were there, but hanging well back, and the cyclists had a chat with him. The chap who recorded it said he wasn't a great fan of the Royals, but he'd been surprised by just how friendly Charles had been.
https://youtu.be/q97gUrw3ib4?si=IAz_79GBFIFhgFqW
Isn’t it? MM could never.
That’s the picture of a man who finds no greater joy than his children. It’s the same smile my husband had when we brought our boys home from the hospital.
It’s actually pretty devastating that Harry doesn’t seem to have that same love for his children and doesn’t understand what he’s thrown away.
Just wanted to say, that's beautiful..
I don't understand how Harry could treat his family, in the way he has done. It is an objective fact however - that it's his loss.
That picture on the left is absolutely a favorite of mine. That is true love and joy. And I've no doubt Princess Catherine had a huge role in that aside from just taking the picture.
Also it's not said enough but while Catherine's influence is a positive one King Charles and Prince William have also clearly done the work themselves to repair and develop the loving relationship we see now. Queen Camilia as well. A happy family takes work and effort from everyone. They are so much better off well shot of the other two.
That is my favourite picture of the two. In another life, they're just a dad and his boy. The closeness and ease they have with one another is lovely.
Truly heartwarming 😍
This was the photo that hit me hard and basically changed my impression of him. Look at how the child (I think it's Louis) clings to him and his expression of almost tearful joy and cherishing that hug. It was a wonderful photo that shows us a side that KC3 doesn't publicly display often.
I adore this photo. Louis is such a cutie too!
Lou bug has hot the King wrapped around his finger. I'm sure all the Wales children do. It was so sweet seeing King Charles bounce Louis on his knee at the coronation
Came here to post the same photo. I love how it shows him as a grandfather first and the King of England a distant second.
Yes, it really shows him as a loving grandfather and it really moves me.
He seems to really love children.
I hope his last few years aren’t full of emotional pain like HMTLQ’s were.
Wasn’t he the one who suggested the name ‘Zara’ to Anne?
No brother who doesn’t care about kids will help you choose a name for your child.
Yeah. I know he wanted Harry to be a girl. Imagine how much EASIER things would be now if he had been.
He and Anne are very close!
The King when he was POW playing with Camilla’s grandchildren. I think this may be at Birkhall, not sure.
King Charles is a good man.
Yes he is.
KCIII has always reminded me of the Disney story of Ferdinand the Bull. They wanted him in the ring fighting but he just wanted to smell the flowers.
Prince Phillip always tried to make him rugged, a man's man but KCIII was always a gentle soul
Don't give Disney the credit; it was based on a children's book.
I didn't know Catherine took that photo. It's a favorite recent photo of them. More proof of Charles warmth is his holding up Camilla granddaughter on the balcony at WnK's wedding. It's one thing to read a story to your baby brother, it goes to a whole nother level when you write a children's story for him.
I've heard that his father, Prince Philip, sent him to Gordonstoun in order to help "toughen" him a bit, because of his known sensitive nature. It's really too bad that such sensitivity was perceived to be a liability that needed correcting. Otherwise, I admire Prince Philip's judgment about people.
It was a different time for sure.
I will forever laugh at how Anne is the son Philip never had.
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PP had an awful childhood, without even a home to call his own, so different from the child who was born to be king. Gordonstoun provided the structure and stability PP needed, but not to a pampered child who had every material thing, so wanted emotional fulfilment.
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Haz could not have lived the life Prince Philip had. Philip had to escape with his family from Greece as a toddler in an orange crate. His father was court martialed and nearly executed but instead the family was exiled. He was never able to learn Greek because of that. His mother Princess Alice (a BAMF and hero of another story) lost both of her aunts and her cousins in the Russian Revolution. (Prince Louis of Mountbatten, her dad, was the nephew of Tsarina Maria Alexandrovna and his grandmother Queen Olga was a Romanov by blood so many of the Romanovs were related to Philip in some way or another. His grandfather was the brother of Tsarina Maria Feodorovna.) He had a decently normal life in exile until his mother was institutionalized and then he was passed from one relative to another. His sister and nearly her entire family were killed in a plane crash. Her only surviving daughter (who looked so much like her mother at the same age that Princess Alice said losing Johanna was like losing Cecilia all over again) dies a year and a half later from meningitis. His uncle George who pretty much raised him dies of bone cancer. Prince Philip lived a life of tragedy and loss but he was a man that was able to find love and build a life despite these losses.
Love the Australians. Can always count on them to call out BS.
H acted like he was the only person in the world who had lost a parent. The Duke of Kent succeeded to the title at six years old when his father was killed in a plane crash.
PP’s sister died while giving birth in a plane in a storm when the plane crashed (along with the baby and others).
Yes, PP's childhood was tragedy upon tragedy. That sister was his favourite too.
Princess Anne did not go to Gordonstoun (no girls admitted back then) but she has that “let’s get on with it” approach. Seems a case of personality rather than education. Charles on the other hand may have learned to endure at Gordonstoun, but he sure didn’t learn pragmatism.
I have thought that Gordonstoun worked for Phillip not only because of his personality but because he was just another student there. Charles, on the other hand, was the Prince of Wales. The gap between him and his peers was huge, and they felt the need to cut him down to size.
Ironically, Charles would (like William) have done best at Eton, while Harry would have probably done better at Gordonstoun.
Zara and Peter Philips also went to Gordonstoun.
Yes. Interesting that the only ones who were sent to Gordonstoun were the children of the only child of Phillip who was not sent there. Anne probably wished she could have gone. She was very close to her father.
This is why I am such a "fan girl" of yours!
Perfect. Nuanced to really point to all lives - personality & pragmatism. It defines, IMO, how children can grow up the same, but you might have "one who doesn't quite fit the mold", personality & pragmatism.
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Thanks! I am flattered!
It’s always interesting how nature and nurture work on us.
Apparently the Queen Mother as well as HMTLQ also wanted him to go to Eton.
One thing I think HMTLQ did well was allowing Philip to be the head of their private family. It must have been difficult for him, especially back then, to have to defer to her publicly.
If I remember correctly, the Queen Mother was a bit “snobbish.”
Good point. It may not have been so helpful after all, if some level of denial was inherent to the whole program.
My father who was a similar age to Prince Philip was also sent to a boarding school after his mother and father both died and he always claimed he loved it. It sounded terrible to me, but he said it was the best time of his life. So you never know. Prince Philip was a good looking and athletic boy, so Gordonstoun may have suited him very well.
It makes so much sense. In a time where everything was different for him, he was thrust into structure, knew what was required, what tomorrow would bring.
It makes sense.
Interesting. I have 3 sets of friends who all went to boarding school. (children of missionaries in Africa, India and South America in the 60s and 70s) They all 3 talk about how awful it was for them. One compared it to The Lord of the Flies.
My brother boarded. He liked it but it was a military school. The structure was wonderful. His school was about three hours away from our home.
Gordounstoun is one of those schools where some would absolutely flourish and others would crumble. There are some who would be well suited for it and others shouldn’t be anywhere near there.
It’s the same thing with Michaela which I like to think of it as Gordonstoun for working-class kids. Great for some, absolutely terrible for others. For a kid who is quiet, introverted, has never done anything wrong, not even steal a candy, always does the right thing, etc etc, going to a school like that would be unwarranted punishment.
Different generation. They were tough. They had to be.
While it IS true that a school like Eton (which has a MUCH better theatre/debate/etc programs) would have been a much better fit for KC, there is a great amount of value in young people striving to strenthen areas which they are perhaps not as strong as might need in the future (ie: some strength, resolve, etc. for sensitive Charles -- a young man who WOULD NEED such, in his future role).
Moreover, Charles has said many times that while Gordonstoun was not so great for him, it DID "MAKE HIM". Plus, he got to immerse himself into his 'strengths' (theatre, etc) at Cambridge. So, to me -- it was all done for the best of reasons - loving intentions.
But he wasn't happy there and the media made much of his (n.b. of a child's!) unhappiness at Gordonstoun as a huge flaw in his character suggesting that he would therefore be a weak king. (I know I grew up minding this for him.) That time must have scarred him badly. He's done well to emerge in any way normal after decades of misrepresentation.
I'd read that as well. In fact, if I recall correctly, Charles said something similar when William was going to Eton. Charles was mercilessly bullied and he didn't want that for William & Harry.
Might have reviewed that wish for Harry since then!
Just last night I was listening to the Scandalmongers podcast about the Meyerling Incident! Crown Prince Rudolph was subject to terrible spartan upbringing from the age of three, and it didn’t end well…
Princes may not have had the easiest time with their educational journeys, whether at home or at school. Same for some princesses, as I've heard of the daughters to Nicholas II in Russia having a rather rigid routine at home.
I think that was more Nicholas wanting them to be raised that way, not the fact that they were princesses.
Nicholas and Alexandra were pretty strict parents even for the day. I have books of their letters and diary entries and Alexandra was emotionally demanding on her daughters as well. You could tell that she loved her girls but at the same time she had a lot of control over them.
Nicholas was terribly out of touch. That’s a huge reason he was deposed actually.
Have you read about how Queen Victoria was raised? The “Kensington System?” It was horrible and suffocating. I don’t think she could even walk up or down stairs without someone holding her hand.
KC3 wrote a children's book; so, MM wrote The Bench.
KC3 founded an organic farm and produced products from the farm's output. So, MM made fifty jars of jam from strawberries sourced from somewhere.
MM can keep copying KC3, but it's not going to make her a crown wearing billionaire.
She even copied the exact illustration style. Like it’s not even subtle. Shes so unhinged.
Prince Edward saying “what you did that for?” is so adorable. 🥺🥺🥺
Edward was clearly the Queen’s cutest kid.
Clearly!
When I was a teen in the 90's I found an old book from the 70's about the royals that had the below image of Prince Charles running to embrace his counsin Lady Sarah Armstrong Jones who was very young compared to him and I always thought it was the sweetest image. I have seen so many lovely family images of Charles, I do not believe this man has ever been cold in his life.
The further images below are Charles holding the hands of Lady Sarah and his brother Prince Edward as they walked. I see no evidence of a cold person here whatsoever.
Wearing Wellies where appropriate, walking in a damp meadow....unlike some people (Meg) who pulls them on to walk a London high street for free publicity.
These are precious. Thank you!
Little Edward was such a cutie. Thanks for finding and sharing these photos!
ETA: Just watched the video. How sweet. He was so tender towards little Edward. It reminded me of being a big sis to my little bro who's 10 years my junior. It's a smaller age gap than Charles and Edward but I really enjoyed when my little brother was that age (and he was ridiculously cute, too). Sometimes I miss those days, and I am sure Charles enjoyed them. My little brother is now a really lovely man, just like Edward seems to be.
I've noticed that Charles, Anne, and Edward always seem so close.
Yes! It seems Andrew is the odd one out.
I’ve always wondered about the relationship between Anne and her younger brothers.
I have this book stored in my special trunk for future generations to enjoy.
So do I. Loved it when it first came out.
I am sticking by my belief that Charles was bullied as a child and very sensitive whereas Andrew was the bully in the family. Andrew was a pompous jerk.
I think it’s been confirmed Charles was bullied at school. I also saw on this sub Andrew once made his own “one plane crash away” remark to classmates.
He's such a vile tick.
He loves dogs too.
And Diana forced him to get rid of his beloved dog that was his constant companion bc she didn't like how much attention it got over her!!! 😢 I was so sad when I heard that!
He loved that dog it was a huge sacrifice.
Cold and uncaring men don’t call their sons “darling boy.” I teach Shakespeare, and I like him for that. His love of Shakespeare is sincere. This bit is really funny. Prince Charles Is The Best Hamlet
Cold and uncaring men don't suggest names for their neices either. (According to Zara's bio, he suggested the name because it mean bright as dawn.) Cold uncaring men don't let their grandbabies slobber over them all while laughing.