The Queen’s husband Prince Philip was heartbroken when the Palace prevented him from giving his German surname to his children. The Duke of Edinburgh had enjoyed authority as a naval officer but this was stripped from him when he became the Queen’s Consort. One saving grace for the Duke was that he was granted free rein to choose where his children were educated.

The boisterous Duke had gone to British boarding schools Cheam and Gordonstoun and wanted his son Charles to do the same.

Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told Express.co.uk: The Queen deferred to the duke in the matter of their children’s education as Prince Philip’s early years as Consort were not easy, especially for someone with his dynamic personality.

“It had been decided that the Queen and her children would take the family name of Windsor and he was denied access to government papers and felt frustrated.”

Royal family members had traditionally been home-schooled within the safe confines of Buckingham Palace but Philip felt it was important that his offspring mixed with other children.

The Duke felt he was made at Gordonstoun, a Scottish boarding school founded by German education pioneer, Kurt Hahn.

Gordonstoun championed character and outdoors education over academia and its pupils took regular early morning runs followed by cold showers.

While Philip had thrived in this environment Charles was a sensitive child and fell victim to bullying, a royal expert has claimed.

Mr Fitzwilliams continued: “In Jonathan Dimbleby’s authorised biography of Charles, the Duke is quoted as writing ‘Children may be indulged at home, but school is expected to be a spartan and disciplined experience in the process of developing into self-controlled, considerate and independent adults’. This was a bad mistake.”

He added: “He failed to recognise that Charles, a sensitive child, would not flourish in the schools where he himself had been in his element.

“Though later the Prince would claim there had been a beneficial aspect to his schooling at Gordonstoun, at the time he viewed it as an incarceration, as he was mercilessly bullied.

“Eton, where the Queen Mother wanted him to go, would have been a far better choice.”

He added: “Later Andrew and Edward went to Gordonstoun with far happier results.”

Charles described his time at Gordonstoun as “hell on earth.”

Mr Fitzwilliams believes Philip’s ill-judgement when it came to Charles’ schooling is to blame for their distant relationship to this day.

“One of the main reasons for the distant relationship between the Duke of Edinburgh and Charles was the decision, made by the Duke, to send him firstly to Cheam and then to Gordonstoun,” said Mr FitzWilliams.

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