What We Know About King Charles' Relationship With Queen Camilla's Grandkids

As the head of the British monarchy, King Charles is tasked with constantly keeping up appearances: a good royal, a loving husband, and a doting father. There is much to be said of the king's relationship with his grandchildren from his side of the family, but what about Queen Camilla's side? Before marrying Charles in 2005, after Princess Diana's death, Camilla was married to Andrew Parker Bowles, with whom she shares her son, Tom Parker Bowles, and her daughter, Laura Lopes. The queen cumulatively has five grandchildren on her side of the family, excluding Prince William and Prince Harry's children. 

Tom Parker Bowles and his wife Sara are the parents of two children: eldest daughter Lola Parker Bowles, born in 2007, and youngest son Freddy Parker Bowles, born in 2010. The queen consort's daughter, Laura, shares three children with her husband Harry Lopes: daughter Eliza, born in 2008, and their twin boys, Louis and Gus, born in 2009. There's little confirmed about their relationship with their grandfather, the king, but what has been reported indicates that it is nothing but wholesome and real. 

According to Sara Parker Bowles, Queen Camilla's daughter-in-law and Tom Parker Bowles' ex-wife, King Charles' step-grandparenting is rather formal. Nonetheless, the effort is obvious. Sara told The Daily Mail in 2023 that she and her family have had a few surreal moments since Charles and Camilla ascended to the throne — one included a sweet gesture from Charles on her daughter's birthday.

Reminiscing about the memory of receiving an email from the palace, Sara said, "It said the King would like to know what Lola wants for her birthday." The royal formalities took Sara by surprise. "It felt medieval, like something out of a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale," she explained. "I thought, 'I'm never going to get used to this.'"

Sara acknowledged that the fairytale can occasionally be a nightmare for her in-laws due to the royals' grueling schedule. But, the time the king and queen spend with her children is a warranted break. "It's a nice insight seeing [Charles and Camilla] off-duty because those are the happy times you know they deserve," she told the outlet.

Even with their grandfather's face on UK stamps, King Charles' royal title makes no difference to the young ones. According to Tom Parker Bowles, who spoke with People, the grandchildren on Camilla's side of the family only see Charles as their "Uppa," their nickname for their step-grandpa. "All of our children — my sister's children too — have grown up with Gaga [Queen Camilla] and Uppa," Tom said. "They've grown up from an early age knowing no different."

While speaking about it in an episode of "Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh," Tom said that Camilla's grandchildren couldn't care less about Charles' royal role and even forget that their step-grandfather is the king. "They've grown up with this man they all love, and it's wonderful," he said, adding, "They don't really—you know, people ask [about Charles], and they're like, 'What? He's just Uppa.'"

It's difficult to see a grandparent in any other light, especially when they're such a present one, like Charles. "They adore the King because he is such a good, nice man," Tom told People, noting that his step-grandfather duties seem to be just as important to him as his duties to his own grandchildren. "The children utterly adore him. From an early age, he's read them stories, been there, and swung them around."

Their usually private relationship was put on full display at the king's coronation, where Queen Camilla's grandsons played a particular role. Freddy Parker Bowles, Gus Lopes, and Louis Lopes served as their grandmother's Pages of Honor alongside their cousin and Camilla's great-nephew, Arthur Elliot. This was not only a sweet reunion of the Windsor and Parker Bowles families, but their participation was a historic moment for the monarchy. According to The Times, the role is traditionally designated for duchesses, but Camilla's grandchildren's participation is a clear message that family is valued over historical convention.

"It sends a nice signal and is quite a bold move," a source close to the King and Queen reportedly told the outlet. "It is another example of the King and Queen Consort being unafraid to shake things up a bit to reflect the realities of modern life, of which a blended family is a central element."