The deeply personal royal role Princess Charlotte is destined to take on in King Charles’ reign

Princess Charlotte is destined to take on a personal royal role and King Charles reportedly revealed it just days after she was born.

Her older brother might be second in the royal line of succession but Princess Charlotte has a pretty big future ahead of her too. As the daughter of a future King, it’s already been suggested that she could possibly receive Princess Anne’s rare title one day. Whilst reports have also compared Prince George and Princess Charlotte’s intriguing dynamic to that of King Charles and Princess Anne and how important she could be in supporting her brother. However, it’s during their grandfather’s reign that we could see another very personal responsibility placed upon Princess Charlotte’s shoulders. 

£9.23 at Amazon

Our King: Charles III: The Man and the Monarch Revealed by Robert Jobson: £9.23 | Amazon

Released ahead of His Majesty's coronation, royal author Robert Jobson reflects upon King Charles as both a man and as Britain's monarch. He considers his motivations, driving passions and how his values will go on to influence his approach to his reign.

View Deal

As previously reported in The Telegraph, King Charles apparently made a rather enlightening remark just a few days after his granddaughter was born in 2015. This was his first public engagement since she was welcomed and he opened up about his hopes for her as he walked around Poundbury in Dorset.

"She is beautiful,” the monarch reportedly declared adoringly, before adding, “I was hoping for a granddaughter - someone to look after me when I am very old."

Although he perhaps meant this in an unofficial capacity, King Charles’ supposed remark does reveal his genuine joy at having a granddaughter and how nurturing and supportive he hoped she would grow up to be. Whether or not Princess Charlotte will end up being “someone to look after” His Majesty when he’s “very old” remains to be seen.

She is the oldest of King Charles’ granddaughters, though it’s sadly believed he’s only met Prince Harry and Meghan’s daughter Princess Lilibet once in person. Given how high up Princess Charlotte is in the succession, it’s perhaps at least more likely she’ll continue to grow up and live relatively close to His Majesty, spending time with him and gaining a greater understanding of her own place in the Royal Family.

All of the Wales children are understood to have a close bond with their royal grandfather who they reportedly at one time called “Grandpa Wales”. It’s been claimed that he’s  looking out for them in a protective way as they grow up in the royal spotlight.

As per the Daily Mail, in the Channel 5 documentary, The Fab Five: The King’s Grandchildren, Chandrika Kaul, Professor of Modern History at the University of St Andrews explained that His Majesty is “keen” for his grandchildren to be able to follow their hearts.

“I think King Charles is very keen that his grandchildren don't make the mistakes that I think he feels he made, particularly when it came to matters of the heart,” she claimed. “What I think he wants to do is try and help these young grandchildren grow up in as normal a way as possible and create more fully rounded human beings who are unafraid of their emotions and who are able to have the confidence to marry whom they want.”

Whether or not Princess Charlotte does take on the unofficial role of looking after King Charles in his later years, she, her siblings and cousins are clearly incredibly important to him. She would likely want to support him, look out for him and spend time with him as much as she can, both at public royal occasions and during private family moments throughout his reign.