Everyone’s getting ever so slightly excited about when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will welcome their first baby. And the anticipation is felt most keenly in the family homes where the new seventh in line to the throne will live, love and play. The Prince of Wales has made no secret of his joy at welcoming a fourth grandchild into his world and in the past seven days, as every royal move was taken as a sign of an imminent arrival, Charles had a packed diary that may well have helped counter some of the natural anxiety all grandparents feel as they wait for the next generation to put in an appearance. Here’s what Grandpa Wales did as he waited for Baby Sussex.
He opened a B&B
There are plenty of people in their seventies who decide that they’d like to open a B&B but Charles, of course, has a slightly different take on the retirement option. For a start, he’s not actually given up work yet. And more importantly, this project is all about preserving history. Charles and his Prince’s Foundation have created a luxury B&B called ‘The Granary Lodge’ in the grounds of the Castle of Mey, home of his beloved grandma, the Queen Mother.
Charles officially opened ‘The Granary’ on May 1st and no doubt a reminder of his own happy relationship with his grandparents made the wait for Baby Sussex even more exciting.
He hung out on Instagram with a You Tube star
All grandparents want to keep up with the grandkids and Prince Charles did it in style in the week as he met You Tuber extraordinaire, Joe Sugg. George, Charlotte and Louis were no doubt as impressed with Grandpa Wales’ new friend as their baby cousin will be.
Charles and Joe hooked up, again, at Dumfries House where they discussed work by the Prince’s Foundation to support the continuation of traditional skills like thatching which as all youngsters know, was Joe’s first proper job. It was all documented on Instagram, natch, and it gets better. Joe Sugg is promising vlogs from Dumfries House on his You Tube channel in the near future.
He dug deep for National Gardening Week
Well, of course he did. The Prince of Wales is such a passionate gardener, it was inevitable he would take to the official Clarence House social media to support this nationwide event which celebrates nature.
This year’s theme was ‘Edible Britain’, looking at homegrown fruit and veg. Gardeners all over the country are encouraged to share images and stories of their projects and Charles did just that with a Google Arts tour of his grounds at Highgrove. He’s talked before of getting George, Charlotte and Louis into gardening and Baby Sussex will no doubt be helping Grandpa Wales, too, as soon as she or he can toddle.
He trod the boards
Prince Charles’ love of the theatre goes all the way back to his student days and this week he trod the boards at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland during a visit that put performing arts in the spotlight. The conservatoire offers education in many areas including drama, music, dance and production and Charles got an overview of their work as well as a tour of the New Athenaeum Theatre.
Oh, and he spent time chilling with former pupil and Outlander star, Sam Heughan, who described the prince as ”charming”. More hipster points with the grandkids there.
He was as busy as ever
The Prince of Wales carried out twelve engagements in the past week, about average for him as he steams well towards 200 duties in 2019 alone. His past seven days also saw him visit 1st Macduff Scouts, silversmith and jewellery school, Vanilla Ink, and Banff Museum. Charles also showed his support for the Glasgow Life Project run by Macmillan Cancer Care of which he is patron.
Busy, smiling and looking to the future – that’s how Grandpa Wales waited for Baby Sussex.
