Princes Charles says he is missing his family during lockdown: 'You really want to give people a hug'

Princes Charles says he has missed giving his family members a hug during the coronavirus lockdown.

During an interview for the Sky News programme After The Pandemic: Our New World, the royal spoke openly about how it feels to be apart from his loved ones for so long. Since lockdown began, Charles has been staying at his Scottish home of Birkhall alongside his wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall.

The heir to the throne made particular reference to his father, the Duke of Edinburgh, who is shielding at Windsor Castle with Queen Elizabeth II, and is set to celebrate his 99th birthday next week.

“Well I haven’t seen my father for a long time. He’s going to be 99 next week, so yes, or my grandchildren or anything. I’ve been doing the FaceTime, is all very well but….” he said, before noting that while technology has made communication possible, he is looking forward to being able to see his loves ones in-person.

“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?" Charles said.

"You really just want to give people a hug."

The future king went on to say he understands the frustration many people are feeling at not being able to embrace their friends and family and how he hoped they would be able to do so soon.

“Well I do hope so because I do totally understand so many people's frustrations, difficulties, grief and anguish,” Charles said.

“I mean 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.”

The royal also opened up about his own diagnosis with coronavirus, saying he was “lucky” to have “got away with it quite lightly”.

“But I've had it, and I can so understand what other people have gone through,” he said. “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.“

Charles said the experience had made him “even more determined” to help prevent future pandemics by putting nature at the “centre of everything we do”.

“The more we expose ourselves to this kind of danger. We've had these other disasters with SARS and Ebola and goodness knows what else, all of these things are related to the loss of biodiversity," he explained.

"I think we're slightly paying the price as a result."

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