King Charles ‘Gutted’ He Hasn’t Seen Prince Harry’s Kids, Thought They’d ‘Be Making Up for Lost Time’

King Charles III hasn’t gotten to spend any time with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s children Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, since they moved back to England, a source tells Star, but he’s following his grandchildren’s progress as best as he can from afar.

“Charles absolutely loves being a grandfather,” reveals the source. “He may not have always been the best father, but he’s really taken to his role as a grandad, so he’s pretty gutted he hasn’t even seen Archie and Lily once since they landed in the U.K.”

The last time the cancer-stricken monarch, 77, is believed to have caught up with the Sussexes was in July when he and Queen Camilla hosted Harry, 42, and Meghan, 45, and their two children at their country home in Gloucestershire.

“Here he was expecting that they’d be getting straight into making up for lost time, and it’s been quite the opposite,” the source admits. “Harry keeps promising him that the visit will happen very soon, but so far there’s been no date set and Charles is feeling very let down.”

For one thing, there’s been no simply “popping over for a visit,” notes the source.

“Meghan will have to join them, so it needs to align with her schedule,” the source explains. “It has to work with the kids’ school schedules, with Harry’s schedule and of course, with Charles and Camilla’s too.”

Not helping matters, adds the source, is “all of the stress” surrounding the recent release of Princess Diana‘s brother Charles Spencer‘s headline-making memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister.

“Any free time has been filled up with crisis meetings,” the source says. “But the king is determined to fix this. He wants to see Archie and Lili as soon as possible.”