Shaping future kings CHARLES' GIFT TO GEORGE

Proud of his grandson's progress, the Monarch has a surprise for the boy

- Judy Kean

Becoming a grandfather took a bit of getting used to for the King. The initial few times he was photographed holding his first grandchild, Prince George, he didn’t look comfortable, points out body language expert Judi James.

“Charles seems to have held George like an unexploded bomb,” she says, looking back on those early days.

Since then, the King, 74, has become a very hands-on grandad who, when his grandson was small, would play with him by crawling around on the floor and making funny noises. Later, he delighted in doing different voices as he read aloud from books. As George, 10, has got older, the pair have developed a close bond, which is expected to get even stronger in the coming years.

Royal experts say His Majesty adores all of his grandchildren, but is taking particular care to build a close relationship with George, who will follow in his footsteps to become Monarch one day.

It’s important to the King to be able to offer his grandson guidance about what lies ahead, while at the same time encouraging George’s parents, Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, both 41, to give him and his siblings Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, five, as normal a childhood as possible.