Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's son Prince Archie "loves" that his grandad King Charles III "lives in a castle" and has developed a "growing interest in his royal connections" after learning about "kings and princesses", according to a royal expert.
So many children grow up reading stories about the kings and queens of far-off lands, delighting in the fantasy of knights on horseback, extravagant castles, and shining tiaras. But for Prince Archie, who at five-years-old is the perfect age for these stories, the plots aren't all that fantastical.
While his parents, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped down as senior royals back in 2020 and moved their family to Montecito, LA, the young prince still holds a prominent place as sixth in the royal line of succession.
One royal expert has now claimed that learning about royalty through books has led Archie to develop some "interest in his royal connections".
Speaking to The Mirror, royal expert and author Tom Quinn shared, "King Charles hasn’t seen his grandson Archie since 2022 and Archie really misses him – many of Archie’s books are about kings, princesses and castles and he knows enough to know that his grandfather lives in a castle."
He added that "Archie loves the idea that his grandad lives in a castle", like the royalty he reads about in fiction and is "apparently desperate to come to the UK with his father" so he can visit both his grandad and the castle he lives in. Though he may be underwhelmed by Clarence House for, as beautiful as it is, it is not exactly the abode of fairytales.
Still, royal life is something that, the expert believes, Archie is likely to "romanticise" when he grows up. Despite his parents' attempts to pull back the curtain and show how difficult life in the UK was for them both through their Oprah interview and their Netflix series Harry & Meghan, the life of royalty is inherently intriguing - especially with so many historic traditions surrounding the royals like the Changing the Guard.
The interest in royalty is reportedly something Archie's parents are trying 'not to encourage' as they fear a life in the UK as a working royal is something that could one day become Archie's "longed-for fantasy".
The problem reportedly came to a head when, earlier this month, Archie celebrated his fifth birthday with a garden party at the family home. The expert says King Charles wanted to send his grandson an "extravagant present" but Meghan was keen to keep any gifts 'simple' so as not to further entice Archie.
"Meghan was worried that a magnificent shepherd’s hut or similar extravagant present will only increase Archie’s growing interest in his royal connections," he said. "She doesn’t want Britain to become a longed-for fantasy for her son so she had been pushing Harry to insist that his father gets Archie a simple present."
But the monarch has long been known to spoil his grandchildren, and reportedly had a custom-made playhouse made for Princess Lilibet to mark her second birthday last year.
Explaining Charles' desire to give "indulgent" gifts, the expert said, "Charles is desperate to show he cares and he wants to be an indulgent grandparent, partly because he has mellowed over the years and wants to make up for what he sees as his neglect of his own sons."
