Tuesday marks the third birthday of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's daughter, Lilibet, who has had minimal interaction with her UK relatives, including her grandfather. Royal author Phil Dampier noted that the birthday festivities are overshadowed by an "underlying sadness" stemming from the family's "rift." Speaking on The Sun’s Royal Exclusive show, he shared: “It is amazing that she's already three but there is this underlying sadness of course because of the rift that the King is not seeing his grandchildren.
“I think he's only met Lilibet possibly once and Archie only a couple of times and they are seventh and eighth in line to the throne, growing up in California on the West Coast of America with American accents and they just don't see them.” Phil added that it’s also “very sad” for Meghan’s father Thomas Markle, who reportedly has never met his grandkids or even son-in-law Prince Harry. Meghan told Oprah Winfrey that her outspoken father lied to her about talking to the British press - a "betrayal" that she just can't "reconcile".
The royal author told The Sun’s Royal Editor Matt Wilkinson: “So that is the underlying sadness and whether they're going to one day heal this rift, we don't know, but at the moment I don't think there's much prospect.” Phil said it will be “fascinating to see those kids grow up”, and added: “When they get a bit older, are they going to start asking questions ‘how have we got to this situation’, ‘how is it .
