Prince Charles Talks Prince William and Kate Middleton's Baby, Prince Harry's Deployment

Royal dished on becoming a grandfather and revealed his concerns about his younger son's safety to ITV's This Morning

By Brandi Fowler Jan 07, 2013 4:10 PMTags
Prince Charles, Prince HarryRichard Dawson/MoD

Prince Charles is opening up about his royal children.

In an appearance on U.K. network ITV's This Morning, the royal expressed his concerns over Prince Harry's deployment and dished on becoming a grandfather to Kate Middleton and Prince William's baby.

"I'm feeling very old," Prince Charles said with a laugh when the show's hosts, Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, congratulated him on the royal couple's first child

But Prince Charles took a serious turn when discussing the state of the environment, saying he didn't want to pass along an "increasingly dysfunctional world" to his grandchildren.

"I've gone on for years about the importance of thinking about the long term in relation to the environmental damage, the climate change and everything else," Prince Charles said. "I don't want to be confronted by my future grandchild and have them say, 'Why didn't you do something? So, clearly now that we will have a grandchild, it makes it even more obvious to try and make sure we leave them something that isn't a total poisoned chalice."

The 64-year-old Prince of Wales also went on to talk about his worry for his son, Prince Harry, who is currently deployed in Afghanistan. 

"If you are a parent or relation to a loved one and that person is away in incredibly dangerous and challenging circumstances, I know you worry all the time," he said. "Certainly every night I worry. But he loves what he is doing and he's brilliant at it.

"I constantly meet the families of those who have lost their sons or husbands or brothers or sisters…I have some understanding at least of what they go through," Prince Charles continued.

Prince Harry spent Christmas away from his family this year, celebrating the holiday with his fellow troops in Afghanistan.