CULTURE

Why Prince Charles and Camilla Haven’t Met Baby Archie Yet

Though they have seen a photo, at least.

by Katherine Cusumano

Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles in Germany
Pool/Getty Images

Though Prince Harry cancelled a planned trip to the Netherlands earlier this week—a decision that was reportedly due to logistical challenges but probably is in some part due to the impending birth of his first child—not every royal was so fortunate as to have a flexible travel schedule. Prince William and Kate Middleton visited Wales on Wednesday, a day after Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles, the grandfather and step-grandmother of the newborn Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, respectively, flew off to Germany and are expected to return Friday. (Prince Harry did manage to make it briefly to the Hague to launch the Invictus Games, doing so in a jacket embroidered with the word “daddy,” lest anyone forget what was going on back home.)

That’s to say, there’s a whole lot of infant Archie’s extended family who have yet to make his acquaintance. (That didn’t stop William and Kate from mistakenly being listed as Archie’s parents on the official royal family website royal.uk.) Unlike Prince Harry’s trip, which could be abbreviated, Charles and Camilla departed for Germany “at the request of the British government,” Express reported earlier this week, part of an effort to massage the relationship between the two nations, so their trip wasn’t exactly optional. Still, it’s not all business: They were photographed this week sampling such local delicacies as soft pretzels with mustard and steins of beer. The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall hadn’t even seen their new grandchild, according to Good Housekeeping, until a photographer from the Royal Sun pulled an image up on his phone and showed it to Camilla while the couple was touring Leipzig, according to a tweet by a Camilla fan account. “Oh, yes, I see it now,” she reportedly said. “Thank you for showing me. Now take it to the boss.”

Speaking of the boss: Queen Elizabeth II, Harry’s grandmother and the baby’s great-grandmother, was of course among the first to visit the newborn; Meghan’s mom, Doria Ragland, is also in England to celebrate the new arrival. So what we’re really waiting for now is the historic summit between both Archies: Prince “Archie” George and Archie Mountbatten-Windsor.