The ‘extraordinarily affectionate’ side of King Charles III will be shown in a new BBC documentary marking the first year of his reign.
In contrast to the cold picture of the king alluded to by Prince Harry, he enters a rehearsal for his Coronation at Westminster Abbey showing his fondness for Prince William and the heir’s young family.
As he walks into the church, the king exchanges kisses on both cheeks with the Prince of Wales and they place hands on each other’s shoulders.
He then does the same with Kate Middleton, who curtseys during preparations for the defining moment on May 6, 2023 following Queen Elizabeth II’s unprecedented 70-year reign.
The king-to-be also pecks and exchanges delicate hugs with each of his grandchildren, George, Charlotte and Louis, now aged 10, eight and five respectively.
Richard Jackson, the Bishop of Hereford, who was Bishop Assistant to Queen Consort Camilla at the Coronation, says: ‘I think what struck me particularly is how extraordinarily affectionate they are.
‘They’re clearly a very close family of all the generations and in a sense you felt you were part of a family occasion as well as a royal occasion and a national occasion.’
The embraces captured for the BBC One programme are far removed from the recollections of the Duke of Sussex in his memoir, Spare.
The prince wrote: ‘The older generation maintained a nearly zero-tolerance prohibition on all physical contact…No hugs, no kisses, no pats.’
Familial embraces were reserved for rare occasions, according to the duke, who along with wife Meghan Markle broke away from Buckingham Palace in 2020 to live in the US.
‘Now and then, maybe a light touching of cheeks,’ he wrote.
‘On special occasions.’
The prince continued: ‘No matter how much you might love someone, you could never cross that chasm between, say, monarch and child.
‘Or Heir and Spare.’
A behind-the-scenes look at the king’s first year, the film follows the monarch, 75, and the Queen, 76, through key events while giving an intimate look at their lives.
Cameras take in the preparation and the day of the crowning itself while friends and family give insights into how the ‘yin and yang’ couple has gone about the reign.
Queen Camilla is also brought into main view during the momentous 12 months, when Britain crowned a Queen Consort for the first time since 1937.
The couple is shown going about their everyday lives, which includes walking their dog on a relaxed stroll through the gardens of their home on the Balmoral Estate in Aberdeenshire.
They take in the splendid outdoor setting while out with Jack Russell Beth, the Queen’s Battersea Dogs and Cats Home rescue dog.
The keen walkers are ‘yin and yang’ but make a solid team, according to Annabel Elliot, the Queen’s sister.
She says of her older sibling: ‘She is his rock, and I can’t actually emphasise that enough. She is somebody who is completely loyal and she isn’t somebody who has huge highs and lows.
‘He brings to her everything. I’m not talking about all of this [she waves hands to show Buckingham Palace], but he has such a knowledge and interest in so many different things, which she wouldn’t really have been open to if she hadn’t met him.
‘They are yin and yang really, they really are polar opposites but it works brilliantly. Most of us when we get to this sort of age are thinking yes quiet times but theirs is just going to go like that [extends hand] isn’t it.’
The BBC has trailed the programme as giving an exclusive inside look at the lives of the couple as Charles III ‘has to show what kind of a monarch he will be for a 21st Century Britain’.
*Charles III: The Coronation Year, is due to air on BBC One at 18.50 tonight.
MORE : Royal expert reveals ‘great threat’ to ‘out of step’ monarchy
MORE : King Charles III’s reign will ‘bridge Queen’s legacy and William ascending the throne’
Do you have a story you would like to share? Contact josh.layton@metro.co.uk