Prince Charles’ “emotional” first meeting with Lilibet during the Sussexes’ UK visit revealed

With Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex living in the US, Harry’s father Prince Charles has been unable to see some his family members in person for months.

However, it’s been revealed that when the Sussexes and their two children Archie, three, and Lilibet, one, jetted over to the UK for the Queen’s recent Platinum Jubilee celebrations, Prince Charles was “very emotional” when he met his youngest grandchild for the first time.

The couple travelled to London from their California home just before Lili’s first birthday, enjoying some of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations as well as spending private time with their family.

Speaking at the briefing of Clarence House’s annual review, a senior royal source said: “It was fantastic to see them. It was wonderful to have them back in Britain. The Prince and the Duchess were absolutely thrilled to see them.

“The Prince, of course, hasn’t seen his grandson Archie for a bit of time and so it was very, very, very special to have some time with him.

“He hadn’t met Lili, his granddaughter, and so to meet her was very emotional, a very, very wonderful thing.”

Prince Charles clearly loves being a grandfather to his five grandchildren that also include Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis as well as his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall’s grandchildren.

Speaking as part of the BBC One documentary, Prince, Son and Heir: Charles at 70, the Duchess of Cornwall revealed how much of a hands-on grandparent he really is.

“He reads Harry Potter and he can do all the different voices and I think children really appreciate that,” she said back in 2018.

“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.”

During their stay in the UK, Lilibet also met her great-grandmother and namesake, the Queen and was thrown a first birthday party.

A Sussex spokesperson that close friends and family were invited to a “casual, intimate backyard picnic” at Harry and Meghan’s UK residence Frogmore Cottage.

Claire Ptak from East London’s Violet Bakery, who made Harry and Meghan’s non-traditional wedding cake even made a special creation for the event.

“The inside was the Amalfi lemon and elderflower cake I created for the Duke and Duchess’s wedding in 2018, but this time we covered it with a strawberry buttercream specially for Lilibet,💕” Claire penned on the Violet Cakes Instagram account.

Since Harry and Meghan are no longer senior working members of the royal family, they did not stand on the Buckingham Palace balcony for any of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

However, the couple did attend the Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral the day after the Trooping the Colour parade.

Meghan was a vision in a Dior off-white coat dress and matching hat, with her hair slicked back in a low bun.

She accessorised the look with a pair of very significant earrings – the sparkling pair were the same ones she wore for her first solo engagement as a royal as well as the ones she wore for the 2020 Commonwealth Day service, her final one as a senior royal.