A new documentary has shown King Charles embracing his children after previously being accused of ‘never giving hugs’ in Prince Harry‘s memoire.
The BBC production about the Coronation is set to be aired on Boxing Day and shows the Wales family attending a rehearsal at Westminster Abbey.
The King can be seen greeting Prince Louis and Charlotte with double kisses on the cheek, with the Princess curtseying him.
The Prince of Wales then humorously practices the kiss of homage with his father. Many are claiming it is the most affectionate display ever among the three generation of Kings.
Richard Jackson, Bishop of Hereford, told the Telegraph: ‘I think what struck me particularly was how extraordinarily affectionate they are.
His son accused the King of not giving ‘hugs, no kisses, no pats’ in his memoire Spare
The ‘affectionate’ King is shown embracing his children in Boxing Day documentary
‘They’re clearly a very close family, all the generations, and in a sense you felt you’re part of a family occasion as well as a royal occasion and a national occasion.’
But, according to the Duke of Sussex, he said in his memoir: ‘The older generation maintained a nearly zero-tolerance prohibition on all physical contact’.
‘No hugs, no kisses, no pats,’ he wrote in Spare. ‘Now and then, maybe a light touching of cheeks…on special occasions.’
He added: ‘No matter how much you might love someone, you could never cross that chasm between, say, monarch and child. Or Heir and Spare.’
Elsewhere in the documentary there is a touching moment Prince William jokes about how fiddly the catch is during the coronation ceremony and groans: ‘On the day it’s not going to go in, is it?’
‘No,’ says the King, giggling; ‘[But] you haven’t got sausage fingers like mine!’
The amusing interaction is one of the highlights of a new documentary charting Charles’s first year as monarch, to be shown on BBC One on Boxing Day.
Featuring previously unseen behind-the-scenes footage and exclusive interviews with key officials, family and senior royals, it captures the galloping pace of the last 12 months but also moments of lightness.
During rehearsals for May’s Coronation, at which he swore allegiance to his father, William is shown joking about which of his cheeks to kiss by tickling his father’s face and saying: ‘Your left cheek is better!’
Prince Charles poses with his sons during the Royal Family’s ski break at Klosters on March 31, 2005, in Switzerland
Prince William is pictured with King Charles during the King’s Coronation rehearsals at Westminster Abbey in London
King Charles at his Coronation rehearsal in Westminster Abbey
Yesterday, the King praised the ‘selfless army’ of volunteers serving communities across the country, describing them as the ‘essential backbone of our society’, in his Christmas broadcast.
Hours after he was joined by almost all of his family for the traditional Royal Christmas service at Sandringham, Charles paid tribute to Birtons who dedicate their lives to service.
Charles said the presence of community stalwarts among his coronation guests emphasised the meaning of the ceremony – ‘a call to us all to serve one another’ – and he concluded by thanking those who were ‘caring for our common home’.
