Prince Charles says he is dying to hug his grandchildren and staying apart is making him 'terribly sad'
Prince Charles has opened up about missing his grandchildren and that he is "terribly sad" that he has been unable to hug them during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
In a new interview with Sky News for their series 'After The Pandemic: Our New World,' the Prince of Wales, 71, opened up about his emotional struggles during the lockdown brought about by the health crisis. Speaking from his Aberdeenshire home of Birkhall, Prince Charles said that he really wanted to give his family members a hug, especially his father, Prince Philip, 98, and his grandchildren, Prince George, six, Princess Charlotte, five, Prince Louis, two, and Archie, one.
"Well it's terribly sad, let alone one's friends," he said about being 'disconnected' from his family. "But fortunately at least you can speak to them on telephones and occasionally do this sort of thing. But it isn't the same, is it? You really want to give people a hug. I do totally understand so many people's frustrations, difficulties, grief and anguish."
Most of his family members are spread out, some of them even living in a different continent at the moment like Prince Harry and Archie. Others like the Duke of Edinburgh, who turns 99 next week is currently quarantined with the Queen at Windsor Castle, which is 500 miles away from Charles' home. Prince William and his children, on the other hand, are currently living in Norfolk. "I haven't seen my father for a long time," Charles said. "He's going to be 99 next week, so yes... or my grandchildren or anything. I've been doing the Facetime, which is all very well but..."
But Charles is choosing to stay positive as he looks forward to being reunited with his family soon. "I'm just trying to do my best to find and help and encourage ways to enable people to go on doing that, but in a way that doesn't wreck everything at the same time around us. I know that so many people have had the agony of losing their loved ones and the bewilderment and anxiety that surrounds everything. We've seen at the same time people being quite remarkable and wonderful people in the National Health Service and all the other key workers who kept everything going," he said.
He also spoke on his own experience with Covid-19. "I was lucky in my case and got away with it quite lightly," he said. "But I've had it, and I can so understand what other people have gone through. I feel particularly for those who have lost their loved ones and have been unable to be with them at the time. That to me is the most ghastly thing. But in order to prevent this happening to so many more people, I'm so determined to find a way out of this."
After spending seven days in self-isolation "in accordance with government and medical guidelines" the prince was reported to be in "good health." However, the illness did enable Charles to empathize with others throughout the pandemic and realize how the crisis could offer a moment of opportunity for the environment.
"People have begun to realize that we have to put nature back at the center of everything we do and put it at the center of our economy," Charles said. "Before this nature has just been pushed to the peripheries, we've exploited and dug up and cut down everything as if there was no tomorrow, as if it doesn't matter."