March 25, 2019

Prince Charles has been a rock for Prince Harry and Meghan during 1st year of marriage, director says

WATCH: Prince Charles' advice to Harry, Meghan

Prince Charles has helped his son and daughter-in-law, Prince Harry and Meghan, “soldier on” in their first year of marriage, according to the director of a documentary about the Prince of Wales.

During the past year, Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have gotten married and pregnant, adjusted to Meghan's new life as a royal, undertaken a 16-day overseas tour and unveiled major charitable initiatives, dealt with a very public feud within Meghan’s family and tabloid gossip labeling Meghan as demanding, prepared to move to a new home and split royal households with Prince William and Kate.

Chris Jackson/Getty Images
(L-R) Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex gives a speech next to Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex as they attend The Prince of Wales' 70th Birthday Patronage Celebration held at Buckingham Palace, May 22, 2018, in London.

In the face of all of that Charles, 70, has told Harry and Meghan to ignore the controversies and "soldier on," John Bridcut, the director “Prince Charles at 70” on PBS, told DailyMailTV.

Editor's Picks
(MORE: Royal maternity style: Look back at Meghan, Kate and Diana's pregnancy looks)

Bridcut said he believes Charles would advise Harry and Meghan to "just carry on doing the job," as the Prince of Wales has done in his own life.

“He would apply himself and just carry on doing the job and soldier on and that's what he's done and it's borne fruit,” said Bridcut,

Bridcut noted that Charles has been able to use his experience of public scrutiny around his relationship with Harry’s mother, the late Princess Diana, to help guide the couple.

“There is a close relationship between father and son and I'm aware that he gets along very well with both the daughters-in-law,” Bridcut said, adding that he has seen Harry in particular "become a real champion of his father ."

(MORE: Prince Harry and Meghan visit New Zealand House to honor mosque shooting victims)

That close relationship spilled out in public when Meghan tapped Charles to walk her down the aisle at her May wedding to Harry when her own father bowed out after a paparazzi scandal and health concerns.

Jonathan Brady/AFP/Getty Images
Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex looks at his bride, Meghan Markle, as she arrives accompanied by the Britain's Prince Charles, Prince of Wales in St George's Chapel during their wedding ceremony in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, in Windsor, May 19, 2018.

"Charles is being completely supportive -- and could be seen in the very touching way in which he was involved in the wedding ceremony itself, which was sort of all quite understated," Bridcut said. "It was all very last minute of course the way things turned out."

"But what Camilla [the Duchess of Cornwall] says in the film, that I felt very strongly when I watched it myself, with the way he held out his hand for Meghan's mother and that moment was completely unscripted and spontaneous, but totally typical of the man actually," he added. "He doesn't advertise this but he is a very sensitive man and I've seen that myself a lot."

Meghan and her father-in-law shared a sweet moment this month when the royal family gathered for the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey. She and Charles were photographed sharing a laugh at the service.