Princess Charlotte and Duchess Camilla show off their close bond in sweet new portraits
It looks like Princess Charlotte and her step-grandmother, the Duchess of Cornwall, are two peas in a pod! In a set of newly released royal portraits celebrating Prince Charles’ 70thbirthday, the twosome were captured pointing and smiling at something in the background as Camilla drapes an arm around the little girl, showing off just how close they have become since Charlotte was born three years ago.
Clearly something hilarious was happening behind the lens! Pulling her granddaughter in close for a cuddle, Camilla points into the distance, while the Duchess of Sussex is doubled over with laughter behind her. Prince George, 5, sits happily on his grandpa’s lap, overjoyed by whatever spectacle the family is watching. In The Real Camilla: HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, she jokingly opens up about the joys of being a grandma, or “GaGa” as her grandchildren call her. “It’s very nice because you haven’t got the full responsibility. You can give them a wonderful time, spoil them, give them all the things their parents won’t allow them to have and then give them back again.”
Charlotte cuddles up to Camilla in one of the special portraits, taken to celebrate Prince Charles' 70th birthday. Photo: © Chris Jackson / Clarence House via Getty Images
Fans of the Royal Family will be overjoyed by this rare pair of photos that sweetly show just how amazing Prince Charles and Camilla are as grandparents to the Cambridge trio – and soon, Baby Sussex! Charles is known to be a doting grandpa, and it was recently revealed in Prince, Son and Heir: Charles at 70 that he named a group of trees at his Scottish estate, Birkhall, after Prince George. ‘George’s Wood’ was planted in honour of his first grandchild’s birth five years ago. “As I get older, all I really long for is to plant trees,” he said. “I hope it will be quite amusing for George, as they grow up and he grows up.”
The Cambridges, the Sussexes, and Prince Charles and Camilla all posed for a beautiful photo. Photo: © Chris Jackson/Clarence House via Getty Images
In the BBC documentary, Camilla also revealed all the fun activities that Charles and his grandkids get up to. “He will get down on his knees and crawl about with them for hours, you know, making funny noises and laughing and my grandchildren adore him, absolutely adore him,” Camilla gushed. “He reads Harry Potter and he can do all the different voices and I think children really appreciate that.” The Prince of Wales is equally doting towards his wife’s five grandkids from her children with first husband Andrew Parker Bowles – Tom Parker Bowles and Laura Lopes.
The Duchess of Cornwall pointed out the planes to excited George at Trooping the Colour in 2016. Photo: © Getty Images
As the Prince of Wales is preparing to step into the biggest role of his life, he’s probably lapping up all the time he has with his grandchildren now before his schedule gets even more hectic – but he’s still the hardest-working member of the royal family, clocking almost 550 engagements in 2017. “I would like him to have more time with the children,” Prince William admitted in the documentary. “Having more time with him at home would be lovely, and being able to play around with the grandchildren. Because when he’s there, he’s brilliant. But we need him there as much as possible.”
