Royal enthusiasts were delighted when the Prince and Princess of Wales shared a charming new photograph and video of Princess Charlotte in celebration of her 11th birthday last Saturday.
The image, captured by photographer Matt Porteous during the family’s Easter getaway in Cornwall, shows Charlotte dressed in a chic black and red striped jumper paired with blue jeans, smiling brightly in a sunlit field.
Not long after, a video from the same holiday emerged on social media. It featured Charlotte, third in line to the throne, engaging in playful activities such as patting the family dogs, Otto and Orla, arranging white shells into a message in the sand, and bowling a cricket ball.
These joyful family moments may have stirred emotions 5,500 miles away in Montecito, California.
A close associate of the Duke of Sussex shared that Prince Harry longs for his children, Prince Archie, who just turned seven, and Princess Lilibet, four, to experience a childhood similar to that of their cousins, Charlotte, Prince George, 12, and Prince Louis, eight.
“Archie and Lili are enjoying a wonderful life in California, but Harry feels a deep sadness that they are missing out on growing up with the rest of their family,” the friend revealed.
During his return visit to Britain last September, Harry told a friend that he and wife Meghan planned to educate their children in this country.
The photograph released at the weekend to mark Princess Charlotte’s 11th birthday
Harry has waxed lyrical about life in the US, saying: ‘I enjoy living and bringing my kids up here‘
But he is said to desperately want his children, Archie and Lilibet, to enjoy the same sort of childhood as their cousins, Charlotte, George and Louis
‘Harry feels his children are missing out on the extensive family network that their cousins are enjoying,’ explained the chum, referring to Prince William and Catherine’s offspring, who all currently attend the same public school, £32,000-per-year Lambrook in Berkshire.
‘Harry wants his children to have the very best education,’ the friend added. ‘He has retained his closest friendship group of confidants from his days at school at Ludgrove and Eton. He wants that for his own children.’
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The comments may come as a surprise because last year Harry had waxed lyrical about life in the US.
‘I enjoy living and bringing my kids up here, it’s a part of my life that I never thought I was going to live and it feels as though it’s the life that my mum wanted for me,’ he declared of the late Princess Diana on stage at a conference in New York.
The friend conceded that Harry might have a challenge selling his plan to Meghan, who is said to consider sending children to boarding school ‘barbaric’. The pal said: ‘There is still some negotiation for Harry to have with Meghan. The King, however, is delighted.’
That comment suggests that the duke had mentioned his plans to educate his children in Britain to his father, who he met for tea at Clarence House last September.
Given the ages of Archie and Lilibet, who was controversially given Queen Elizabeth II’s family pet name, they are unlikely to be sent to boarding school across the Atlantic any time soon. Meanwhile, their cousin Prince George is expected to start boarding school (probably Eton College) in September.
Harry hopes to bring Meghan, and possibly their children, with him when he returns to Britain in the summer to publicise the Invictus Games for injured and sick former service personnel. The games are due to be held in Birmingham in July next year.
Even if Archie and Lili do come, it would be unlikely that they would see their cousins, as their parents are still not talking after Harry and Meghan’s disgraceful comments about the Royal Family.
It is, though, sad that the Sussexes’s children are missing out on the happy family life enjoyed by Charlotte and her siblings because of the wilfulness of Harry and Meghan.
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