Prince Charles may very well have had a complicated relationship with his parents, especially
his father, growing up, but when the prince himself became a father, did he choose to
raise his firstborn differently? Here's what you should know about Charles' relationship
with his son Prince William.
In 1996, after being separated for several years, Princess Diana agreed to an uncontested
divorce. According to Andrew Morton's biography of the late princess, Diana described that
February day as the saddest day of her life.
Prior to the separation, though, the couple were regularly at odds with each other. Morton
wrote,
"At home the battlegrounds were their children and Charles's relationship with Camilla Parker
Bowles."
Diana's close friend James Gilbey is quoted in Diana: Her True Story — in Her Own Words
as saying,
"She thinks he is a bad father, a selfish father."
In the biography Rebel Prince: The Power, Passion, and Defiance of Prince Charles, British
investigative journalist Tom Bower alleges that Charles' relationship with William and
Harry became strained during the divorce. According to Bower, Charles believed,
"Diana had poisoned the boys' minds towards their father."
Whether Charles believes that to this day, the prince has not stated.
In 2017, at the age of 69, Charles fulfilled more royal duties than anyone else in the
British royal family: a whopping 546 engagements. Charles' dedication to work is nothing new,
according to royal biographer Penny Junor. When speaking to The Daily Beast, she divulged
that the prince "has always been consumed by work." Junor told the outlet,
"It is a slightly tricky relationship [with William] because Charles has always been quite
a remote figure, he has always been consumed by work."
While he always made sure his children were well cared for, they allegedly did not develop
a very close father-son relationship. Junor was quick to point out this is not because
he doesn't love his children, but because he's singularly focused on his work that he
has, quote, "sometimes overlooked friends and loved ones."
Sadly, Charles' work ethic is what makes him such a great prince, but it's also what prevented
him from becoming the doting father he likely could've been.
Although often busy, Charles would make time to attend his sons' school plays. Though,
when William was little, there were times when he probably wished his father hadn't
shown up.
William once revealed in a documentary that he was in a school play as a wizard, and Charles
was in attendance. The play called for a small explosion to happen in front of the young
prince, but it didn't go off. William decided to keep going with his performance, despite
being quite panicky. Eventually, the pyrotechnics did go off — during William's line. The
Duke of Cambridge said his father couldn't stop laughing for the rest of the play. He
admitted to giving his dad, quote, "a big death stare," but apparently even that didn't
work.
Harry echoed his brother's comments, saying,
"And no one else — no one else laughs, he always laughs at the wrong moment, and doesn't
think 'Oh I shouldn't — I should probably stay quiet,' he just thinks it's the best
thing ever."
Oh, dad.
Following in his father's footsteps, Prince William attended boarding school. The prince's
biography on the royal family's official website states that the young heir attended Ludgrove
School, a pricey all-boys boarding school, in the early '90s. By 1995, William was attending
another boarding school, Eton College, which actually is not a college but a high school.
While away at Eton, William, and later Harry, received letters from Charles. In a documentary
about their father, the princes said the letters contained his famous "black spider" handwriting
— handwriting so bad it was hardly even legible.
Prince Harry divulged,
"At school, we regularly swapped letters and said 'Uh, I think I know what it says, can
you read it to me?' And it was just drivel."
William joked, adding,
"Just in case it was a bollocking we didn't know about."
Processing their parents' separation and divorce would've been hard enough for William and
his younger brother, Harry. Learning of their father's affair with Camilla Parker Bowles
likely only complicated things further. And then, of course, the boys later suffered the
loss of their mother in 1997.
After Charles and Diana's divorce and just two months before the princess passed away,
Charles sat his boys down to explain his relationship with Camilla, Penny Junor wrote in the Telegraph.
It was then that the father of two realized, according to Junor, "William in particular
didn't want to know."
So, Charles dropped the issue and didn't attempt an introduction until William himself asked
to meet Camilla a year later. Junor described Charles as being, quote, "always sensitive"
to William and Harry's feelings regarding their now-step-mother. Eventually the boys
realized how happy Camilla made their father, and that his happiness was more important
than anything else.
After the ITV documentary "Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy" was released and people
started to notice that Charles wasn't mentioned in it, Harry and William performed some damage
control. Speaking on behalf of himself and his brother, Harry told ITV News that their
father was there for them following their mother's death. The prince also added,
"He tried to make sure we were protected."
Harry also spoke with the BBC, saying,
"One of the hardest things for a parent to have to do is to tell your children that your
other parent has died."
Although some have criticized Charles and the rest of the royal family for having both
William and Harry walk behind their mother's coffin at the funeral, Harry told the network,
he was "very glad" to have been involved. It seems Charles was indeed there for his
sons after their mother's death.
Perhaps the best way to learn the status of Prince Charles and Prince William's relationship
is to take it straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak. ITV's royal producer Lizzie Robinson
shared some of Charles' own words in a speech he gave at the opening reception of the International
Wildlife Trade Conference in London in 2018. Prince Charles addressed the crowd, saying,
"I can only say here how proud I am of the role my elder son, William, has played as
a leader in this area, helping to raise the issue higher up the global agenda, including
working with the Chinese Government on the introduction of the ivory ban."
Charles had similarly kind words for William at the conference in 2014.
"I was particularly pleased that my eldest son, William, was able to lend his support."
Since 2013, William has been working to protect endangered animals across the globe by taking
big steps to combat the illegal wildlife trade. In addition to helping save the lives of many
animals, he's obviously made the Prince of Wales one proud papa.
With Prince Charles fulfilling hundreds of engagements every year, he's as busy as ever.
Prince William revealed in the BBC One documentary, Prince, Son & Heir: Charles at 70, that he
wants his father to slow down a bit and create a better work-life balance. William admitted,
"I would like him to have more time with the children. Having more time with him at home
would be lovely, and being able to, you know, play around with the grandchildren. When he's
there, he's brilliant, but we need him there as much as possible."
Prince Harry agreed that he should spend more time with the family, saying,
"When we were kids, there were bags and bags and bags of work that the office just sent
to him. We could barely even get to his desk to say goodnight to him."
Hopefully Charles will take some much needed time off and foster great relationships with
his grandkids.
Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus, even more List videos about the royal
family are coming soon. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.