punches and ear tugging at school

Today everyone knows him as King Charles, but in the past he was simply a classmate to many. Even when he was the heir to the throne, he therefore could not avoid being targeted by the bullies of his school, who attacked him in different ways. To tell these unpublished episodes, it was a former classmate of Prince Charles at the time.

The facts date back several decades when the sovereign moved to the college in Gordonstoun, Scotland. Charles was only 13 at the time and Prince Philip insisted that he follow in his footsteps by attending this school. Elizabeth II was already on the throne and – so they say – did not want the future king to be educated at this college.

To manage

Contrary to what one might imagine, in fact, Gordonstoun was a school which prepared for the most difficult situations. A true survival course, which combined normal classes with specific activities, including running in snowy fields and cold water showers.

King Charles’ difficult years at Scottish boarding school

King Charles eventually dropped out of school in 1967. Accounts suggest that the then prince found his time at boarding school very difficult. But a few years later, he said he was happy to have participated and thanked the institute for allowing him to “know himself”. But one of his former classmates said it was a really painful time for Carlo. Speaking in a new ITV documentary called Charles: Our New King, John Stonborough revealed the heir to the throne was being targeted by other boys, who blamed him for the strict rules.

Ansa – Prince Charles at school with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip (1957)

The man said the future king was being bullied. He said: “One of the mistakes made when Carlo arrived at Gordonstoun was that we were told he should be treated like everyone else. But that wasn’t everyone, was it? not? The King of England! He had a private investigator, we had no private investigators. And when it happened, they tightened all the rules and it became a stricter school. I think that some people picked on him.” So his companions became more and more suspicious of him, they tended to exclude him and even those who tried to be his friend were targeted, so he gave up.

To manage

In some cases, the bullying also went beyond solitary confinement, but resulted in acts of violence. The companion said: “I witnessed a direct attack on Prince Charles during a rugby match when he was in the scrum and one boy pulled his ear and another stabbed him. struck.” Stonborough added that the future king had few friends at school, but he didn’t complain and was just “living with it”.