Prince Philip was cruel to Charles and bullied him for not being 'man enough', says book: 'Charles was scared'
In the lead-up to Prince Phillip's 100th birthday, a new book by Ingrid Seward, a royal biographer, takes an in-depth look at the life of the Duke of Edinburgh in 'Prince Philip Revealed'. Among the many other details revealed in the book, a major focus in point is Prince Philip's complicated relationship with his son Prince Charles and how Prince Philip could often be a harsh, even cruel, father.
Prince Philip's contentious relationship with his son began as early as Prince Charles' birth, which Philip did not attend, and was out playing squash instead. On seeing his son for the first time, Philip reportedly declared that his son looked ‘like a plum pudding’. According to Seward, Prince Philip did not spend much time with his son growing up, leaving Prince Charles largely bereft of parental love and placed firmly in the care of the royal nannies.
Seward interviewed Eileen Parker, the ex-wife of one of Philip's closest friends Mike Parker. "Philip tolerated Charles but he wasn’t a loving father," she said. "I think Charles was frightened of him. He became very quiet when Philip was around." By all reports, Prince Charles was a sensitive child, while Prince Philip sought to raise a child in his own image. "A resilient character such as Philip, who sees being tough as a necessity for survival, wants to toughen up his son and his son is very sensitive," Lady Edwina Mountbatten had told Seward as reported by the Daily Mail. Prince Philip reportedly was unable to keep from making personal, cutting remarks about Prince Charles, as well.
Growing up, Charles was placed in Gordonstoun, in northern Scotland, on Philip's insistence. Charles reportedly hated his experience there, unable to adjust to life at the school and make new friends. He was relentlessly bullied by the other students of the school. One instance saw the boys in Charles' dorm record the Prince's snores as he slept, to make fun of him for it afterwards. Prince Philip, instead of sympathizing with his son, wrote to tell him to "man up".
One of Prince Charles' more painful memories from Gordonstoun is of his parents coming to see him perform in a staging of 'Macbeth'. "I had to lie on a huge fur rug and have a nightmare," said Prince Charles. "I lay there and thrashed about and all I could hear was my father and 'ha ha ha'. I went to him afterwards and said 'Why did you laugh?' and he said, 'It sounds like the Goons.'"
Seward also shares quotes from Princess Diana from before her death, recalling that she'd said that Prince Charles has an "emotional retentiveness" that she attributes to the way he was raised. Speaking about Prince Charles' childhood and the way his parents raised him, she said, "The only thing he learned about love was shaking hands." By all reports, Prince Philip was a lot closer and more warm with his remaining children, Anne, Edward, and Andrew, who received a lot of the parental love that Prince Charles was deprived of.
'Prince Philip Revealed' by Ingrid Seward is set to release on October 1.