Royal experts claim King Charles grew up “closer to his grandmother” as the Queen was “not a comforting figure” in the ITV documentary about the new monarch
- The show says there are “many different views about the man and his mission”
- Claims the late Queen was not an “all-encompassing mother.”
- The new monarch is said to have been closer to the Queen Mother growing up
- Experts claimed he had a “miserable childhood” on Planet Windsor.
Royal experts claimed that King Charles III. was “closer to the queen mother” as a young boy, as his largely absent monarch mother was not a “comforting” figure during what appeared to be a “miserable childhood”.
The ITV documentary Charles: Our King aired tonight at 9pm and gives an insight into his upbringing and how it shaped a “sensitive” boy into the king he is today.
Heartwarming black-and-white videos painted an idyllic family picture, with the Queen beaming with delight at a four-week-old Charles.
A young King Charles pictured himself holding hands with the Queen Mother, with whom she “formed a close bond while his mother was away.”
Prince Charles as a young boy, commentators have claimed he had a “miserable” childhood on the “planet of Windsor”.
The documentary Charles: Our New King explores the monarch’s complex personality, calling him both “sensitive” and “selfish”.
However, royal commentators said they thought the young prince had had a “miserable childhood”.
The late Queen was crowned in 1953 when Charles was four years old. A clip of him at the coronation showed him standing next to his grandmother the Queen Mother as they watched the monarch being crowned in front of the whole world.
Catherine Mayer, author of Charles: The Heart of a King, said: “He grew up in an isolated world, I called it ‘Planet Windsor.’
“It operates on slightly different rules than planet Earth. It looks and sounds like ours, but it’s very lonely.
“He was very young when his mother became queen and the bond he had with his mother was never as strong as it might have been because of her many responsibilities.”
The children at the time lived on the top floor of Buckingham Palace, where there was a children’s wing and where the Queen visited her children.
The young king and his grandmother the Queen Mother introduced themselves in the 1950s when Charles’ mother was crowned sovereign at 27 and had many duties including a six-month Commonwealth tour
Penny Junor, author of Charles: Victim or Villain? said: “The Queen went up and visited Charles, but mostly she kept a low profile, she was not the all-encompassing comfort a child normally expects from a mother.”
Clips were then shown of Charles beaming Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, widow of King George VI, up on a train platform as the narrator explained that he would “form a close bond with the Queen Mother” as his parents were often traveling the world .
In 1954 the Commonwealth tour lasted six months, Catherine Mayer described the moment when Charles was reunited with his mother after their long stay abroad.
She said: “Eventually the royal yacht docked and the dignitaries stood waiting. The young prince was so eager that he queued with the dignitaries to see his mother.
The film asked what kind of monarchy lies ahead with King Charles at the helm, and many said it would be “shrunk”.
“The first thing she apparently said to him after not seeing him for four months was, ‘Oh not you, love.’
dr Piers Brendan, a royal author and historian, has contradicted reports of Charles as being sensitive, claiming that he was selfish as well as caring and kind, saying: “Of course he’s selfish. He’s been told for a long time that he’s the greatest.’
The portrayal of the 73-year-old king was complex, detailing his gentle, sensitive nature but also a “steel backbone” forged at Gordonstoun School.
Former Prime Minister David Cameron claimed his wife Samantha wanted to sit next to Charles at dinner parties as he was “the most charming and interesting man”.
Experts speculated that the monarchy would become “tightly knit and downsized” under the new king.