Former Royal Correspondent Michael Cole has claimed that King Charles is “desperate” to know his grandchildren Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, as the distant relations between the Royal Family and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle continues.

This comes as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were absent from the Trooping the Colour celebrations this weekend, to mark the King’s official birthday.

However, Meghan Markle’s friend chose to promote two new products from the Duchess’s lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard just hours before Princess Kate made her return to public life after announcing her cancer diagnosis.

Noting the Princess of Wales’s return to the spotlight with the support of Prince William and their children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, Cole admitted he “felt sorry” for Archie and Lilibet for missing another milestone in the royal calendar.

While Archie was born in the UK and lived there for the first year of his life before Prince Harry and Meghan moved state-side, Lilibet is believed to have only visited the country once.

Discussing their absence on GBN America, host Nana Akua explained: “What was so nice about that is that you saw the wonderful family, the unity of the Royal Family, and you saw King Charles and Camilla on the balcony. They’re all united.

“And it really kind of made me think, I do feel sorry for Meghan and Harry’s children that they won’t get that contact with their grandparents on either side.”

Cole was in agreement with Nana, admitting: “You’re absolutely right, which is a great, great shame. It was very important to the King that there would be a good muster of the members of the Royal Family on the balcony.

“But missing were, of course, Prince Harry and Prince Andrew for other reasons. Prince Harry has gone into self-imposed exile in California with his two children and his wife and his rescue chickens.”

Discussing the impact on King Charles by not seeing his grandchildren in light of his cancer diagnosis, Cole told GBNA: “It’s very hard for the King not to see his grandchildren, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

“He’s only seen Prince Archie on a handful of times and Princess Lilibet only once now, when they were last in this country.”

Cole continued: “They could quite easily have had Princess Lilibet baptised at Saint George’s Chapel at Windsor. But they chose not to do it.

“And the King, he’s had a tap on the shoulder. He’s got cancer. He realises time is short and he desperately wants to know his grandchildren.”

Looking to the future of the Royal Family and Archie and Lilibet’s future in the monarchy, Cole highlighted the “importance” of them knowing “who their grandfather is”, rather than “being centred around their existence in California”.

Cole told GBNA: “It’s very important that they should get to know him because the children in California are Prince and Princess of the royal blood.

“Not only do those children not know their grandfather, the King, they don’t know her father, Thomas Markle. She is not on speaking terms with most of her family apart from her mother, Doria.

“And yet these two are always going on about their love of the people, the love of the world, spreading health and harmony and kindness and truth. And yet they cannot extend it to their own family, particularly at a time when it would be most welcome, the King himself having his cancer diagnosis and doing what he does brilliantly well.”

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