King Charles adores spending time with his three eldest grandchildren, Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, nine, and Prince Louis, six. There are however three other beloved royal children in the monarch’s life, who he reportedly spends quality time with.
Owing to the physical and emotional gulf between the monarch and the Sussexes, who now live in the US, Charles has spent little time with this two youngest grandchildren, Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, three.
Prince Archie celebrated his fifth birthday earlier this week, an ocean away from his grandfather Charles. Proud parents Prince Harry and Meghan Markle threw a colourful backyard bash for their son at their Montecito mansion, shortly before Harry’s brief visit to the UK.
The Duke of Sussex returned to London on a flying visit to attend a 10th-anniversary service of his Invictus Games at St Paul’s Cathedral. King Charles, who was reportedly invited to the service, instead hosted a Buckingham Palace garden party a mere two miles away.
Tensions are still fraught among the fractured family members, and, heartbreakingly, it’s been reported that King Charles has ‘no bond’ with his Californian grandchildren. Although he spent time with Archie on several occasions while the Sussexes were still based in the UK, it’s believed the 75-year-old monarch has only ever met grandaughter Lilibet once – at the late Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee.
Despite having this sad distance from his youngest son and his family, the Daily Express reports that King Charles is very much part of the lives of Zara and Mike Tindall, and their three children Mia, 10, Lena, five, and Lucas, three.
Mia
Born January 17, 2014, at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, Mia is 22nd in line to the throne – right behind her mother, Zara. Taking to social media platform X – formerly known as Twitter – on the day of Mia’s birth, delighted dad Mike thanked well-wishers for their ‘kind messages’.
The former Rugby union player posted: “Definitely the best day of my life today, so happy! The girls are both doing great!” At the time of Mia’s birth, she already had plenty of royal cousins to play with – including Peter Phillips’ daughters, Savannah and Isla, and, of course, heir to the throne, Prince George.
Speaking about their sweet bond in an interview with Hello! in 2016, Mike said: “They all seem to get on and enjoy each other’s company, and it’ll be good to watch them grow up together.” In that same year, the doting father also opened up about ‘naughty’ Mia stealing Queen Elizabeth’s thunder during her 90th birthday photoshoot. The adorable portrait, taken by Annie Liebovitz, shows Mia holding her great-grandmother’s handbag, in what had apparently been a move to get her to behave.
During an appearance on Good Morning Britain, Mike revealed: “It just happened at the right time. She was being a bit naughty. The Queen got it quite right when she told her, ‘Just hold the handbag now’, and she did that. It ended up being a great photo for her.
“It just turned out to be the right photo at the right time and it will be something we’ll always cherish, I think.”
Little Mia has also proven to be a source of great comfort to her parents, who later suffered two devastating miscarriages. Opening up during a 2017 interview with The Sunday Times, Mike, now 45, shared: “The saving grace for us has been Mia, our daughter who is now three. However down we feel, she will come running up in our faces. When I was playing, I hardly saw her; now we can see her grow up. I can take her swimming, and I can take her to Ninja Tots. You’ll never be able to see her there because she disappears in a puff of smoke.”
Despite being so young, Mia has already attended a number of important royal events and was a bridesmaid at Princess Eugenie’s 2018 wedding to Jack Brooksbank.
Lena
Zara and Mike welcomed their youngest daughter Lena on June 18, 2018, at Stroud Maternity Unit in Gloucestershire. The little girl – who was born just two months after Prince Louis – was given the middle name Elizabeth in a touching tribute to her great-grandmother.
The Mail reports that Prince Harry was named Lena’s godfather, with him and his then heavily pregnant wife Meghan in attendance at her 2019 christening at St Nicholas Church in Cherrington, Gloucestershire.
Lena, who is 23rd in line for the throne, made her first major public appearance with her family at the Platinum Jubilee Pageant, where she could be seen chatting away with her big cousins Prince George and Princess Charlotte.
Mum Zara, 42, has previously opened up about the two miscarriages she endured before welcoming her middle child during a 2018 interview with BBC Breakfast presenter Sally Nugent. She said: “I think that’s the hardest thing in our situation, is that everyone knew. And very much when things like that happen, normally it’s just your family and friends, but unfortunately, everyone knew about it.”
She added: “Actually I had so many letters saying ‘I’m so sorry, we’ve been through the same thing’, which was incredible – and thank you to all those people. But it just showed how often it does happen and I have a very supportive family, Mike’s incredible – and it’s hard for the guys too.
“It’s very different for us because we’re carrying the child, but for guys, I guess it’s kind of that helpless feeling, which must be incredibly high and horrible for them. At the end of the day, they’ve still lost a child too.”
Offering an update to People a month after Lena’s birth, joyful dad Mike beamed: “It’s been brilliant so far. So far, so good, I can’t complain. [Lena] eats, sleeps.”
Lucas
On March 21, 2021, the youngest Tindall child Lucas made a dramatic entrance to the world – after being delivered at home in the family bathroom. Opening up about the birth of his first son during his 2022 stint on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! Mike explained that, when Zara went into labour, it became clear they wouldn’t get to the hospital on time.
He recalled: “As we got our stuff to go to hospital, [Zara] got out of the bath, she could barely stand, she was shaking. The midwife was like, ‘She’s not making the hospital’. She was like, ‘You don’t want to be delivering in the car’. [I went] into the gym [and got] two gym mats [to put] down in the bathroom.”
Adding that Zara was experiencing intense labour pains, he admitted: “She almost choked me to death. You can’t say anything, can you? ‘Can you let go, you’re really hurting me?'”
The 24th in the British line of succession, young Lucas was given the middle name Philip, after his famously outspoken late great-grandfather.
Do you have a story to share? Email me at [email protected]
