The special family tradition Prince George, Charlotte and Louis could miss out on this summer

There’s a special family tradition Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis could miss out on this summer for a heartbreaking reason. 

• The Prince and Princess of Wales and their children are expected to head to Scotland to spend time with King Charles and Queen Camilla this summer.
• During the late Queen Elizabeth’s reign there was a tradition she upheld for her great-grandchildren that might not happen anymore.
• This royal news comes as Queen Letizia of Spain’s sapphire blue and white bardot dress and platform espadrilles gave us serious holiday outfit inspo! 

Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis have been enjoying the freedom of their school summer holidays for almost a month now and they could soon be making the exciting trip from Adelaide Cottage to Scotland. King Charles and Queen Camilla are already understood to be at the Castle of Mey to start their annual summer break. Reports have suggested Their Majesties could then make Birkhall their base and move over to nearby Balmoral Castle for official visits.

Members of the Royal Family are expected to join them like they did during the late Queen Elizabeth’s reign. This includes the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children, though there’s a special family tradition Prince George, Charlotte and Louis could potentially miss out on this year. 

Back in 2016, the Princess of Wales opened up on the ITV documentary, Our Queen at Ninety, about something Queen Elizabeth used to do for the Wales kids.

“[Queen Elizabeth] always leaves a little gift or something in their room when we go and stay, and that just shows her love for her family,” Kate said. 

It’s not known what these gifts were or exactly where they were laid out. Though the royal residences where Queen Elizabeth was known to host her wider family were Sandringham at Christmas and Balmoral in the summer. The Wales family regularly went up to Scotland to enjoy quality time with Queen Elizabeth in the summer, with Kate taking photos at some of these gatherings.

If she did leave a “little gift” for Prince George, Charlotte and Louis when they stayed during the summer then this perhaps became something to look forward to. This year will be the first Balmoral summer trip since Queen Elizabeth passed away. It’s possible this family tradition of gifts being left for them is something Prince George, Charlotte and Louis could miss as it was started and upheld by her. 

King Charles could decide to keep it going, though as this was so associated with her and was her thing to do for them, he might prefer not to. He could choose to focus on forging his own traditions with his grandchildren instead. 

His Majesty is understood to be close to the Wales children and even named an arboretum at Birkhall after Prince George when he was born. The BBC’s former royal correspondent, Jennie Bond, expressed her belief to OK! that King Charles “hugely values” the time he gets to spend with his beloved grandchildren. 

"For all his serious ponderings on the state of the world and in spite of his heavy workload, Charles is quite a soppy old thing really and I’m sure he hugely values the time he has available to spend with his grandchildren," Jennie declared.

Summer in Scotland provides the perfect opportunity for King Charles to enjoy time with Prince George, Charlotte and Louis. And whilst they might not get the “little gifts” Queen Elizabeth used to give them, it’s likely their grandfather will be keen to make this a special trip for them.