King Charles tickles Princess Charlotte in sweet Trooping the Colour moment: ‘Just being grandad’

King Charles III shared a sweet moment with his granddaughter, Princess Charlotte, on the Buckingham Palace balcony during Trooping the Colour.

The British royal family celebrated King Charles on Saturday 17 June during his first Trooping the Colour as monarch. The Trooping the Colour celebrations, which mark the official birthday of the British sovereign, included a military Birthday Parade and an aerial flypast.

Charles, 74, was joined by senior royals on the Buckingham Palace balcony, where they watched the Royal Air Force flypast and waved to well-wishers on The Mall. Standing alongside the King on the Palace balcony was the Prince and Princess of Wales and their three children: Prince George, nine, Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, five.

While Prince Louis once again stole the show at this year’s Trooping the Colour, many royal fans also noticed a touching moment between King Charles and Princess Charlotte. In videos shared to social media, users pointed out how the monarch appeared to tickle his eldest granddaughter during their balcony appearance.

The viral clip showed Princess Charlotte standing in front of her father, Prince William, and next to her grandfather, King Charles, in her white and red sailor dress. The King then reached for Charlotte’s arm, prompting the young royal to lightly jump and smile.

“Cute little moment between King Charles and his granddaughter, Princess Charlotte,” wrote one person on Twitter, while TikTok user @princessofwales_royalty received 365,000 views on their clip of the sweet interaction. “King Charles and his granddaughter,” they captioned the post.

Since the Trooping the Colour celebrations on Saturday, many royal fans have praised the heartwarming grandfather-granddaughter moment.

“He may be a King, but he is also a grandfather that gives tickles,” commented one TikTok user.

“Just being a grandad,” another said.

“He so obviously adores his grandchildren,” a third person wrote, while another said: “She’s like: ‘Grandpa, I’m trying to be serious here!’ Just like my grandpa.”

King Charles and Princess Charlotte shared another amusing interaction on Saturday when the King accidentally bumped his eight-year-old granddaughter on the head. In a video captured by Yahoo! Australia, the monarch was seen waving to fans on the Palace balcony. At that moment, Charlotte came up behind her grandfather, who accidentally bumped her lightly on the head when he lowered his arm. He then turned to Charlotte and apologised by tapping her on the back.

Meanwhile, photos captured the Prince of Wales resting his hands on Princess Charlotte’s shoulders while watching the RAF flypast, as his only daughter proceeded to hold her father’s hands.

The Trooping the Colour ceremony is a royal tradition that dates back over 260 years to the 18th century, when it was reportedly first performed during the reign of King Charles II in 1748. The annual spectacle, which also took place under the reign of Charles’s mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, marks the official birthday of the British sovereign.

The event also included a Birthday Parade, a procession of thousands of soldiers and hundreds of horses, in which King Charles rode on horseback – a tradition that had not been seen since 1986.

However, noticeably absent from Trooping the Colour were the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were reportedly not invited to King Charles’ birthday celebration. Instead, the couple was expected to spend Saturday at their home in Montecito, California, with their children, Prince Archie, four, and Princess Lilibet, two.