Royal experts defend King Charles III’s parenting style and claim the Monarch did his best to balance fatherhood with royal duties
"Charles did an amazing job at being a single dad"


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Two royal experts have defended King Charles III’s parenting style with one saying he 'did his best' to balance fatherhood with royal duties while another has called the Monarch an 'amazing single father.'
- Two royal experts have claimed that King Charles III 'did his best' to parent his two sons following the death of their mother and was an 'amazing single dad' despite Prince Harry's claims to the contrary.
- One of the experts shared how Charles taught them about his own interests such as 'gardening' while the other revealed that the King was a 'loving, totally devoted and committed' father.
- In other royal news, King Charles wants Prince Harry to bring grandson Archie to this big family celebration.
Prince Harry's recent recollections of his father's parenting style put King Charles III in a harsh spotlight, but the details in his autobiography Spare have not been the only insight into the Monarch's approach to fatherhood.
There have been positives, such as the eco-conscious habit he instilled in his children, but there have also been reports of some more controversial parenting styles with Prince Harry detailing the ‘cycle of pain and suffering’ his father 'passed on' to him while growing up and Prince William reportedly trying not to repeat his father’s mistakes when it comes to parenting.
We know that balancing parenthood with royal duties can be difficult, even Kate Middleton has had to implement a 'savvy' life plan to fit everything in, but King Charles III was reportedly so 'obsessed' with work that Prince William wants to be a totally different dad to the one he knew growing up.
But, despite the bad coverage, two royal experts have, independently from each other, jumped in to defend the monarch who they say 'did his best' to balance his time between work and family and 'did an amazing job at being a single dad' to the two children following their mother's death in 1997.
According to royal expert Ingrid Seward, while Prince Harry has 'really got it in for his father's parenting,' King Charles simply had a different approach to fatherhood and was working with what he had as his jam-packed royal schedule kept him busy.
She told The Express, "He's really got it in for his father's parenting. What Harry fails to remember is that Charles had an appointment in his diary every 20 minutes, like the Queen did.
"He scheduled time with his children and he took them to things like the polo and skiing, and he did gardening and taught them all about plants. He did that kind of fathering."
In response to the claims that Harry made in an interview with trauma expert Gabor Maté Harry saying that he and wife Meghan Markle make a point not to argue in front of the children as he remembers the upset caused by watching his own parents fight, Seward claims that Harry has 'got that wrong' as he 'never witnessed his parents fighting.'
She claims, "I had the housekeeper from Highgrove [where Harry and William grew up], Wendy Berry staying with me when I wrote my book, William and Harry: The People's Princes, and we went through very single diary of every single day that she was working at Highgrove.
"She said there was never once that Harry witnessed a row between his parents. William did a little bit and he did suffer, but Harry never suffered. He's certainly got that wrong. He never witnessed his parents fighting."
The expert also added, "Diana used to say, 'Harry's the naughty one just like me', but Diana was far more sensitive to people's feelings than Harry is.
"She wouldn't have been so outspoken because she wouldn't want to hurt William. I imagine that Diana would be very unhappy with the way Harry has spoken about his brother. And also I think that Diana felt it was her exclusive right to attack her husband but certainly not her children's right to attack their father."
Royal expert Kate Nicholl has similarly spoken out in defence of Charles' parenting techniques and has shared that he did an 'amazing job' of being a single parent to the two teenagers following the death of their mother, Princess Diana, in 1997.
She told OK! Magazine, “Charles did an amazing job at being a single dad. It’s so hard for anyone who’s not been in that situation to imagine what it’s like, not least with the glare of the world’s media on you, assessing how good you are, how much you’re around, how in touch you are with your teenage children.
“Charles went through many of the ups and downs many parents face – Harry coming off the rails, underage drinking – and he dealt with it. He tried his best in a very difficult situation.
"He took – and still takes – his role as father very seriously and it might be a different style of parenting but equally loving, totally devoted and committed. Everyone I’ve spoken to for my forthcoming book The New Royals was keen to stress he’s been a brilliant dad to William and Harry.”
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Charlie Elizabeth Culverhouse is royal news and entertainment writer for Goodto.com. She began her freelance journalism career after graduating from Nottingham Trent University with an MA in Magazine Journalism, receiving an NCTJ diploma, and earning a First Class BA (Hons) in Journalism at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute. She has also worked with BBC Good Food and The Independent.
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