King Charles Has One Major Regret in the Way He Parented Prince William and Prince Harry

“Children all need boundaries, and I don’t think they had too many.”

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King Charles, Prince William, and Prince Harry
(Image credit: Getty Images)

There’s really only one certainty when it comes to parenting: no one does it perfectly. Royal biographer Ingrid Seward said, though, that when it comes to his two sons Prince William and Prince Harry, King Charles has one major regret—that he wasn’t more strict.

“Prince Harry and King Charles were very, very close,” Seward told Fox News Digital today. “They got on incredibly well. I think Charles probably regrets that he wasn’t strict with Harry and William.” 

King Charles, Prince William, Prince Harry

Charles apparently wishes he'd been more strict with his sons.

(Image credit: Getty)

Seward—who, in addition to writing numerous royal books, is editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine—said that Charles went along with his ex-wife Princess Diana’s “freestyle of bringing up children”: “Diana allowed them to do, more or less, what they wanted, which was very fashionable in those days,” she said. “You let children just get on with things. I think Charles probably regrets that he wasn’t a bit stricter, because it might’ve given both boys a few more boundaries.”

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Seward added, “Children all need boundaries, and I don’t think they had too many.”

Princess Diana, Prince William, and Prince Harry

Seward said Diana's looser method of parenting influenced the way Charles parented, too.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Even after Harry’s step back as a working member of the royal family and allegations leveled on the royal family through his memoir, Spare, and the eponymous Netflix docuseries he took part in with wife Meghan Markle, “That doesn’t stop Charles [from] loving him,” Seward said, per OK. “But I think he’s very upset by Harry’s behavior and especially upset by Harry’s remarks about his wife, about Camilla…Charles just has to be there with open arms. Otherwise, it’s just going to make things much, much worse. And I’m sure he wishes that William and Harry were on better terms, but there’s nothing he can do about it. It’s between them. But he did say, ‘Please, boys, don’t make my last years miserable,’ which is exactly what they have done.”

Rachel Burchfield
Rachel Burchfield
Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor

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.