Prince Charles organized the “birthday photo shoot” with Getty photographer Chris Jackson. Jackson photographed Charles with his sons, his sons’ wives and Charles’ three grandchildren at Clarence House in London. Two of those photos – the group photos – were released on the eve of Charles’ 70th birthday, and those pics were completely lovely, especially seeing Charles interact with Prince George, and seeing “the Wales line” of succession. Well, Chris Jackson obviously took more photos then just those two, and they’re slowly being released. This was the cover for the Sunday Times Magazine (Charles with Prince Lou), and there a few other “new” photos in that magazine.
Us Weekly had some new details about the photoshoot at Clarence House. Apparently, it went down mid-September, weeks before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced her pregnancy. She was probably around two months pregnant at the time (maybe nine or 10 weeks, by my math) and according to Us Weekly, no one knew about her pregnancy during the shoot (except Meg and Harry, presumably). Us Weekly also said that Nanny Maria was on hand, off camera, to keep the kids amused and get them to smile and pose for photos. The photo session with all three kids only lasted 15 minutes and “everyone had to work fast.” And apparently the Cambridge kids are getting progressively more chill with each new birth – George was a handful as a baby, Charlotte less so, and now Prince Lou is being described as “so well behaved. … He is the most adorable, placid little boy you will ever meet!”
Us Weekly’s sources also claim that Charles initially requested that he would like to take portraits with just his grandchildren, but that William and Kate turned him down and said that if he wanted photos with the kids, they had to be in the photos too. Which is very interesting.
New pictures have a been released taken by Chris Jackson pic.twitter.com/g2Pph7Q7AU
— FUTURIST2020 (@futurist2050) November 18, 2018
Photos courtesy of Chris Jackson for Getty/Clarence House.
There was an on going narrative that W&K supposedly banned/restricted Charles from seeing his grandchildren. These pictures accompanied with the Sunday Times article by the reporter/photographer that was there proves that the children have a good & playful relationship with their grandfather. Goes to show that just because the palace doesn’t release frequent pictures of their family gatherings doesn’t mean they don’t see/like each other, it just means they like to guard their privacy. The same thing was said that the Cambridge kids don’t hang around with other royal children & this has also recently been debunked.
No doubt once the Sussex baby is born it will be followed by countless speculation & fandom wars about which grandchild Charles loves the most. God help us!
Pretty much 100% spot on. :))
A set of pictures taken on one afternoon don’t prove or disprove anything. God, don’t be so gullible.
Something nice: He looks deeply, genuinely happy & that’s lovely.
I’m not just going by the pictures but the accompanying statement from the official photographer who said the following:
“He is a very hands-on grandfather. He was holding hands with George and Charlotte, and bouncing Louis up and down for a long time”
“George was very happy on the prince’s knee. They have a great relationship that’s a little more established, as George is a bit older”
Kids generally aren’t this comfortable and playful with people they aren’t accustomed to. So yes, maybe in fact he DOES have a good relationship with his kids and grand kids.
There’s a clip on twitter of Charles and Camilla leaving Kensington Palace by helicopter and in the background you can see little Charlotte giving a big wave to her grandparents. They do spend time together.
I think it was probably a clash of egos and tradition where Carole was happy to work around the Cambridges and was on hand to help, while Charles was less flexible and maybe expected the Cambridges to reach out to him so he ended up getting less time with them than he would have liked especially when the Cambridges were new parents.
The kids are being used as cards in the game of thrones? How interesting…
I’m enjoying the relaxed family photos, and I’m happy that Charles is receiving some positive press instead of the usual “can we pass him over for Will & Kate” stories. Prince Charles is far from perfect, but I do believe he is well-prepared to be King.
Those stories about passing him over in favour of William always crack me up, it’s like that is not how this thing works, you cannot vote William in, it’s sort of the thing with a monarchy that nobody gets a vote.
Cute photos though.
Yeah me too – William will not be a great King and one day people will be saying pass over William for George.
Some people don’t seem to understand how a monarchy works! It is about hierarchy & nothing to do with current popularity. I’ve even seen some comments on blogs that said William should be bypassed for Harry! Even in polls for who the British people want as their next monarch Harry rates well below William, but these people have convinced themselves otherwise & continue to peddle their fantasies!
Fantasy peddling has many variations. I am one of those who’ve mentioned that multiple polls indicate that more prefer that William be the next King and not Charles. Of course I don’t believe that is going to or should happen but it is a valid response to fantasies regarding there being widespread anti-William sentiment or widespread concerns about William being King.
@visualot – I’m one of those people who strongly prefers Harry over William for second in line because William seems so lazy and unlikeable. I’m perfectly aware that’s not how it works, but as I’m not in charge of succession, I can share my wishes. It doesn’t make any difference to them.
@Betsy- I dont know about that. I haven’t anything seen anything regarding Harry’s work ethic that distinguishes him from the other two. He is just more popular because he comes off as more personable than William but is not “king-material” either.
Diana actually started the ‘pass Charles over for William’ narrative.
@Yvette. Which was downright creepy of her. That’s bad parenting on her part to involve her son in a fight she’s having with Charles.
What a cruel and destructive statement that was. It’s too bad it was ever uttered it.
Despite all the negative press both Princes have always had a good relationship with their father and later on, their stepmother.
These pictures are lovely.
Why can’t everyone just get along? 😉
I don’t believe the part about W&K not allowing the children to pose with their grandfather unless they were part of the portrait, since the picture of Charles with Louis already proves that it was not the case. And, since Meghan and Harry were also part of the photoshoot, the story doesn’t make sense
It absolutely makes no sense because aren’t I looking at a picture of Charles and Louis? Or is that a stunt baby?
Maybe it means that Charles wanted to release a posed portrait of just him with the grandkids? We are seeing pics of him with Louis but are there pictures of him with all three grandchildren? I wonder if he wanted that and they shot that down. It seems like a weird thing though (for Will and Kate to insist on being in the pictures) since presumably there were always going to be pictures taken of Will and Kate with Charles. It seems like the kind of tidbit that is SO weird and random that I almost believe it just because it seems like it would be a weird thing to just make up.
But people make up strange things all the time, so it probably is fake.
It’s possible that they are twisting words,like maybe Will and Kate said something along the lines of-the kids may not behave in the photos as well if it’s just them with their grandfather,maybe they as parents know what George and Charlotte will pull-acting crazy silly,constantly laughing,heck maybe they thought George would try and take over…I believe Kate and Will want all the positive press they can get ,and I know they are super protective of their kids,but not allowing a few photos with their grandfather ,I’m not buying it.
It’s most likely not true but fabricated as a way of continuing the Game of Thrones-style BRF narrative that has overcome the British tabs lately. Every week it’s either Wills/Hazza vs Charles! or Kate vs Camilla! or Fergie vs Charles’ family! or Kate vs Meghan! Very annoying
The Us weekly article makes no sense. The original Sunday Times article has no mention of W&K banning Charles from having solo pics with the grandchildren. It seems that Us weekly just took the original article & added their own caveat to generate some buzz. I’d rather go with the official source.
Also has some have mentioned why would they be ok for Charles to take a solo pic with Louis but not with the other two. Just like they surprised us with these additional pictures I’m guessing they probably have lots of other pictures from the shoot but these are the ones they chose to release.
It sounds like something one of them said as a joke taken out of context. It’s too weird a detail to be made up, but obviously not true in the way it’s being presented.
Also, I like this quote by Chris Jackson:
“He is a very hands-on grandfather. He was holding hands with George and Charlotte, and bouncing Louis up and down for a long time. George was very happy on the prince’s knee. They have a great relationship that’s a little more established, as George is a bit older.”
But yes, Charles is not allowed to see his grandchildren…. Rubbish.
To be fair – he’s not going to say anything different, lol. chris Jackson isn’t going to say “well it was obvious they all hate each other and no one gets along.” (I don’t think that’s the case, FTR, but I just don’t take that quote as gospel.)
Chris Jackson has made his name off of his relationship with the royals. He would never say anything that might jeopardize his access.
He might be telling the truth but he can’t be trusted as a reliable source. He’s personal friends with W&K.
I think William is worried that Charles strong work ethic will reflect badly on William, especially once William becomes Prince of Wales. That’s why William said he wanted Charles to slow down and spend more time with the grandkids. Charles is getting some goodwill lately and I think William wants to get in on that without doing the work Charles does – thus requiring that he and Kate be pics if Charles takes some with the grandkids.
Isn’t that a picture of Charles and Louis? Like, alone?
Oh minx they’re giving me a headache already. Louis is adorable, as are all three of the children. People have too many conspiracy theories. Oh my.
What’s astounding is this is US magazine! Believing the American tabloid as fact is just as bad as quoting the Daily Mail!
Then what are Harry and Meghan doing there? If the idea was just Charles and grandchildren, why are the Sussexes there?
It is obvious that it was always going to be Charles + Camila + William and family + Harry and his wife
Camilla has also said, more than once, that she would like Charles to slow down and IIRC played the grandchildren card as well.
To be honest Charles does not look to be in great heath to me despite the claims that he’s a health fanatic, so when I hear people saying they want him to slow down and enjoy his grandchildren, I think the sub-text is that they want Charles to be around for to enjoy his grandchildren and for his grandchildren to get to know him.
Seriously, his red face is not just rosacea, couple that, and his swollen hands, it seem more indicative of edema from/and high blood pressure. Yes, it’s arm-chair diagnosing, I’m sure he has very good private doctors looking after him, even traveling with him wherever he goes. But somehow, I just have a feeling Charles won’t have the longevity TQM had, and HM/PP are enjoying.
That said, I think William has started to take things more “seriously”. This year, since becoming “full time” he has done many more events than before, and seems more “engaged” at these events than ever before. Guess time will tell!
All I have left, is how damned cute Louis is! The two pics released of him and Charles made my ovaries tingle (as dried up as they are!) lol
Anyway, that weird tidbit about Will and Kate aside – these are lovely photos, everyone looks happy and relaxed and like they are enjoying themselves.
I get that the royal family is private, but I don’t really get the reluctance to release more family photos of this kind. It goes such a long way to shaping public opinion in a positive way.
Families fight and have disagreements, especially when grandchildren are born. It’s not unusual to have disagreements about visitation. The Royal Family members are still human and go through the same drama like most other families. They just live in palaces.
This is true. I can believe there are disagreements about who sees the kids and when and I can also believe that Charles is a good grandfather and the kids love him.
I admit that I prefer my family to my ILs so my parents do see the kids a great deal more than my MIL does. But she still sees them (I don’t withhold them, its just more of a pain to get together with her.) And when she sees them, they are still excited to see her and have bonded with her. So like I said, I can believe there is some tension and also believe they get along even with that.
Maybe he originally wanted a photo shoot with his grandkids, no W&K or H&M? Go with the “grandfather” angle instead of the whole family?
We are getting out of track… We need to talk about the most important issue here:
How ADORABLE is Prince Louis?? His relaxed smile, his cheeks, him wanting to grab his grandpa’s nose…
And Charlotte? She is like a professional. Waiting for everybody to settle down so they can continue with the pictures…
I adore Charlotte. She is the cutest tyke ever, with confidence in spades. That hand wave at Meg and Harry’s wedding just killed me. Louis is also a cutie and I can believe that he is a sedate, chilled out baby (and Mom’s favourite maybe? ) The Sussex baby will complete this lovely picture rather well I think. On a totally random side-note- I hope Meghan and Harry choose a beautiful old lady name if it’s a girl..like an Amelia or Penelope. A Princess Millie or Princess Penny would be adorable!
The photos are lovely and the kids are adorable. I truly believe those kids adore their grandfather and step-grandmother.
It also makes me sad to think how tragic it is that Diana never got to meet her grandchildren. They would have adored her too and she would have been over the moon to hold them and play with them.
So the sources said that Will and Kate wanted everyone to be together (including Harry and Meghan) but I love how it’s been twisted into Will and Kate insisting to be in the photo no mention of the Sussexes. At this point some people are beginning to lose grasp of reality over this Sussex vs Cambridge thing. Remember how it was Jolie-Pitt vs Aniston for years and then reality happened despite all the projections that has been going on about how Jolie-Pitt was insanely happy and how Aniston was a laughing stock in Hollywood. Reality is always real and different and we could argue day and night about the dynamics of the Cambridges vs Sussex and what’s real is real and what’s fake is fake
@Darlington:
I don’t even know if I believe this story, but it is not about Cambridge vs. Sussex.
If it is true, it sounds like Charles wanted the POSED photo shoot to be just him and his grandchildren. When W&K said no, he had to regroup and have everyone in it, including H&M.
William can only call the shots with his own family, not plan the entire photo shoot.
The fact that there is one candid photo of him with Louis doesn’t disprove the whole story. I read it to mean he wanted the posed pics to be of only him/grandchildren, which is totally different.
However, US magazine is trash and we should take everything with a huge grain of salt. But Sussex fans aren’t the issue here.
This is what was in the Us article, “According to the source, it was first suggested that Charles take the portraits with only his grandchildren, but the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, both 36, believed it would be best if everyone was together for the momentous occasion.”
Lovely baby pics! W&K kids are all adorable. Hooray for happy babies.
As for the constant gossip, well it’s part of the job of being BRF.
Bring on the Queens Christmas gathering, she always cheers me up. 🙂
Louis looks so much like Kate.
Charles seems much more relaxed with his grandchildren ( and Camilla’s) than he was with his sons when small. Maybe it is just the passing of time and experience, but also could be that it had been a more tumultuous time with him and Diana, and she definitely was the primary parent, whether from him feeling pushed out, or voluntarily stepping back.
You know…the story about William wanting Charles to spend more time with the kids took me by surprise but hearing this…and assuming it’s true…he probably doesn’t because he has so many rules that they make it unbearable. Like he probably has to do a full body search and put on a hippie costume so the kids don’t see him as Prince Charles, but Grampy, the cool, unestablishment dope smoking old man who pays our bills kind of guy. I have seen it in real life with my mom and my aunt with other grandkids. When so many rules are placed on them about how and when they are allowed to interact, they back off.
The Times is a very reputable Royal source, certainly more reputable than US weekly, haha. Times article sources usually come from BP or CH. Meghan’s baptism earlier this year was covered nicely in detail by the Times too. Whenever they cover the Royals, there are never any whiffs of gossipy crappy tabloid speculation. The recent Times article about Harry&Meghan being demanding and rude is believable.
Anyway, Louis looks JUST like Kate!! What beautiful eyes.
The Times directly copied that story from the Sun. Try again.
Lol!
The Times Reporter did his own digging about the situation and got independent confirmation of The Sun’s claim regarding the tiara incident.
Also my eyebrows were raised when mere days after The Times ran the story, Charles and Camilla were heading to an event and Charles made a “beeline’ to the same Times reporter to get a birthday gift and exchange pleasantries.
His Twitter handle is valentinelow, it is all on his timeline.
Thanks for the info @aaa. Very interesting stuff!
You know a source can lie, right? The story itself about a Russian tiara does’t make sense. But once you start taking out details to make the story make sense, it calls the whole story into question.
The real story here is that a source in one of the palaces managed to plant a story in a paper as reputable as the Times even though the details of the planted story do not make sense. I think this means that the source had to have major pull in order to accomplish getting this story published.
I agree. Someone in the Palace does not like Meghan. The timing of all these leaks and stories is strategic. Someone waited to see if the tour would be successful, then they ran to the tabloids with gossip.
Andrew? Princess Micheal? Kate’s secretary? One of HRH’s lady’s-in-waiting? Does the Queen have a butler? Paul Burrell palace sources? Now ex-staff of H&M? Who do you have in mind?
I don’t have a specific person in mind. It could be the Yorks, the Cambridges, Sophie, courtiers attached to the Queen. We’ll find out in time. The Yorks are the obvious candidates but who knows?
had a heart attack reading Charles has 3 children
“Jackson photographed Charles with his sons, his sons’ wives and Charles’ three children at Clarence House in London”
The picture of Charles and Louis is absolutely adorable. I can’t imagine telling my parents that unless I was in the picture, they couldn’t take pictures with my kids…
Lovely happy baby. So nice to see.
i feel like that’s odd, if a relative of mine wanted a photo with just grandkids I don’t think anyone would say no.
I think saying no says there are some issues there-maybe a lack of trust they have with Charles with their kids because if kate’s parents wanted a photo alone I can’t see kate or will saying no, do you?
louis is a little chunky happy baby 🙂
Maybe Charles suggested having an official photo with the 3 Grandchildren and W&K suggested it would be better if they were all included. That way Harry wouldn’t be left out. In my family we siblings look out for each other, making sure nobody’s feelings get hurt. Imagine if the photos had been released with no sign of H&M. It could have been viewed as a snub.
Louis is the spitting image of Grandpa Middleton.
I really love the way he dresses. Now, if I could dress like that, as a female…hm,
I love these photos. I also like the one of Charles with his sons. It’s nice to see more relaxed photos.
Just here to say that top pic of Prince Charles cuddling Prince Louis is everything.
I don’t think I have ever seen Charles this relaxed and happy before not even when his son’s were this small. Its so easy to see that Charles adores Louis and Louis is happy to be in his Grandpa’s arms …..adorable!