Katie Nicholl wrote in the Daily Mail in 2016 that the Prince of Wales was concerned that he and his son were growing apart. Charles was longing for them to go on holiday together, because while William, Kate and the children had been away with Kate’s parents Carole and Michael, it had been “years” since William last holidayed with his father. Then, out of nowhere William whisked the family off on a skiing holiday without mentioning anything to Charles about it.
A friend of the Prince of Wales said: “Charles would love to do something like a family skiing holiday, but William’s not interested.
“He wants to do his own thing these days and often his father doesn’t know where he is or what he’s doing.
“When William and the family nipped off to Courchevel for a few days’ skiing at the star of the year, Charles had no idea they were away. He was rather hurt.
“Neither of them pick up the phone to each other and weeks can pass without them having a proper catch-up.”
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Prince Charles was upset by William’s decision to go on holiday without telling him (Image: GETTY)
William used to go on skiing holidays with his father when he was younger (Image: GETTY)
Charles reportedly felt resentful that William and the family spent more time with the Middletons, complaining that he “never sees Prince George”, who he had hoped to mentor.
Charles, William and George share a special bond in that they will all be King one day.
Charles even tried to entice the family to come and stay with him in Highgrove by refurbishing an old tree house in the garden known as the Stumpery.
On George’s first visit, Charles staged a tea party for his grandson here and planted a tree in view of the house in honour of the occasion.
William, Kate, George, Charlotte and Louis (Image: GETTY)
He also installed a £20,000 shepherd’s hut in the wildflower meadow, complete with a bed, woodburner and French oak wooden floors.
However, both the treehouse and hut remain sadly empty as visits from the Cambridges are few and far between.
Charles can sometimes be “his own worst enemy” in this regard, in that he can be rather passive in his relationship to his son’s family.
One royal insider said: “Charles is his own worst enemy. While he is at Sandringham, he doesn’t want to bother William and Catherine, he waits for them to call rather than take the initiative himself.
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Camilla, William, Kate and Charles on a rare joint engagement (Image: GETTY)
“Occasionally, the couple come to Highgrove, but it’s never relaxed unless Charles is in the garden with the children.”
Charles has also been described as “workaholic” with many charitable causes and official duties on his plate.
William and Kate, too, have a packed schedule so finding the time when they are both available can be tricky.
In contrast, Kate’s parents have the freedom to run their own schedules so they can work around when the family is free, and have more free time to spend with the grandchildren.
However, Charles has apparently taken umbridge with the imbalance of how much time they are each spending with their mutual grandchildren.
One friend told Ms Nicholl: “Charles feels very much that the Middletons get more than their fair share of time with George and Charlotte.
“In comparison, he sees them very little and he bears a bit of a grudge about that.”
It was even claimed by Ms Nicholl that Charles stopped inviting the Middletons to his Birkhall home and to royal events as a result.
They were indeed absent from key royal events in 2016 including Ascot, the Royal Windsor Horse Show and the thanksgiving service for the Queen’s 90th birthday.
However, a friend of the Middletons suggested this was simply them keeping “a respectful distance”, because Carole had been “devastated” when she found out how Charles really felt.
— to www.express.co.uk
