New Documentary Reveals Previously Unseen Photos of Prince George and Princess Charlotte with Grandfather King Charles

(Image credit: Getty)

published 1 May 2023

As far as we’re concerned, we can never get enough of Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis—and we got to see some never-before-seen images of them with their grandfather, King Charles, in the new BBC documentary Charles R: The Making of a Monarch, which aired last night.

Per The Mirror, two new images of George and Charlotte snuck into the documentary, both showing the King as a proud and doting grandfather. One image showed the King around 2016 playing with Charlotte, who was still just a baby, holding up a toy, seemingly much to her delight—although we can’t see her face full on. (Unbelievably, she turns eight years old tomorrow.) The second new snap featured the King and George at a tea party thought to be taken the same year, with the King pointing out something of interest to George as the latter holds on to a glass of juice. (Don’t worry, Louis made the film, too, but we’d already seen that photo before.)

The photos were shown over a voiceover from the King speaking from a previous interview about what motivates him in his quest to protect the environment: “I mind so much about the future, what we’re going to leave to our children and grandchildren,” he said. “That’s what really gets me going.”

Simon Young, the BBC’s head of history, said the documentary offered “fresh insight into [the King’s] remarkable life,” per The Sun. “It’s a real privilege to be trusted with such rare, unseen archive material to create a new and distinctive portrait of someone so famous and photographed.”

The doc kicked off a big—if not the biggest—week in the King’s 74 years of life: We’re not sure if you’ve heard or not, but his Coronation is on Saturday at Westminster Abbey in London. Both George and Charlotte will be in attendance, with George serving as one of his grandfather’s four Pages of Honor (and making history as the youngest future monarch to actively participate in a Coronation).

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.