The Whispers About King Charles' Prep School Days (& Why He Didn't Go To Eton)

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Living in a palace is grand and all; that is, until you have to leave the lap of luxury to attend boarding school. The difference is jarring enough to leave you homesick for days. This was reportedly King Charles III's experience when he was sent off to Gordonstoun. And if you think the name sounds cold and unforgiving, well, the environment was apparently no different. While "The Crown" got many things wrong about King Charles III, depicting his time at the boarding school as pretty miserable was spot on — even though the monarch has since attempted to refute claims that he loathed going to Gordonstoun. 

Charles didn't attend Eton College (which has become the boarding school of choice for royal boys), because Prince Philip reportedly insisted his oldest son attend his alma mater instead. Royal historian Robert Lacey explained to People that the Duke of Edinburgh thoroughly enjoyed his time there and believed his son would too. "It was a fantastic, developing stage in [Philip's] life, after his broken background. He thought it would be the making of Charles, but the school had changed," Lacey pointed out. In a 1963 letter the then-prince complained to his parents, "The people in my dormitory are foul. Goodness, they are horrid. I don't know how anybody could be so foul," per The Sun. 

Another letter confirmed that Charles was having a rough time of it, detailing, "I hardly get any sleep in the House because I snore and I get hit on the head all the time. It's absolute hell." Even Prince Harry discussed how much Charles loathed his time at the school in his tell-all memoir, "Spare." The royal defector claimed that his father was "horrendously bullied" and once even disclosed to Harry, "I nearly didn't survive."

Once upon a time, King Charles III might have been quite candid about how much he loathed attending Gordonstoun, but you won't hear a bad word about the elite boarding school from the monarch's mouth these days. Either things gradually got better, or the monarch realized retrospectively that the trials and tribulations he endured during his time there ultimately helped prepare Charles for his royal role. It certainly seemed that way during an interview he granted The Observer in 1974. "I'm glad I went to Gordonstoun," Charles stated plainly (via Gordonstoun's website). "I didn't enjoy school as much as I might have, but that was only because I'm happier at home than anywhere else; but Gordonstoun developed my willpower and self control, helped me to discipline myself." 

In a speech the monarch delivered to the House of Lords in 1975, he also offered praise for his alma mater and decried claims that it was a terrible place to study. "It was only tough in the sense that it demanded more of you as an individual than most other schools did — mentally or physically," Charles clarified, per The Telegraph. "I am lucky in that I believe it taught me a great deal about myself and my own abilities and disabilities." King Charles III had a pretty tragic childhood, and his rough school experience really didn't help matters. 

But, after Prince Philip's death, Charles showed there were no lingering hard feelings when he took over his father's patronage of the Gordonstoun Association. The royals spend a ludicrous amount of money on education, and while the king might no longer hold a grudge against his alma mater, he notably sent Prince Harry and Prince William to Eton.