Tuesday, March 19, 2024
NewsGordonstoun fights back against "Colditz in kilts" view of Prince Charles' education

Gordonstoun fights back against “Colditz in kilts” view of Prince Charles’ education

GORDONSTOUN School has fought back against claims Prince Charles hated his time there, producing old speeches in which he praises the institution.

Prince Charles infamously described the Moray boarding school as “Colditz in kilts” and new Netflix drama The Crown recently showed the young Royal being bullied.

Now the £36,909 school has decided to strke back by digging out a speech and an interview given by the Prince in the 1970s.

In a speech to the House of Lords, in 1975, Prince Charles said: “I am always astonished by the amount of rot talked about Gordonstoun and the careless use of ancient cliches used to describe it.

“It was only tough in the sense that it demanded more of you as an individual than most other schools did – mentally or physically.

“I am lucky in that I believe it taught me a great deal about myself and my own abilities and disabilities.

“It taught me to accept challenges and take the initiative – why else do you think I am brave enough to stand up before your Lordship now?”

And in a magazine interview in 1974, Prince Charles said: “I am glad I went to Gordonstoun. It wasn’t the toughness of the place – that’s all much exaggerated. It was the general character of the education there.

“An education which tried to balance the physical and mental with the emphasis on self-reliance to develop a rounded human being.

“I didn’t enjoy school as much as I might have, but that was only because I’m happier at home than anywhere else.”

He added: “Gordonstoun developed my willpower and self control, helped me to discipline myself, and I think that discipline,

“Not in the sense of making you bath in cold water, but in the Latin sense – giving shape and form and tidiness to your life – is the most important thing you education can do.”

The Prince said in the interview that he and his fellow pupils “went in for ‘adventure’”.

He said: “We ran our own fire brigade, we had our own sea rescue service, mountain rescue, surf life-saving, coast guard etc. It was adventure. And we were damn good.

“We used to say that the reason why the local fire brigade sometimes didn’t call us out was because we were better than they were.”

Prince Charles was not the only member of his own family to attend Gordonstoun School. His father, Prince Philip, and his two younger brothers, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, also attended the school.

The Crown’s new season deals with Prince Charles struggling to adapt to his harsh surroundings and being bullied by his classmates.

The show emphasises Charles’ hardships with the physical nature of the schools methods. With early morning runs in the wet and cold being a common feature.

Gordonstoun School was founded in 1934 by the influential German educator Kurt Hahn. Hahn was exiled from Nazi Germany for publicly speaking out against Adolf Hitler.

A spokeswoman for Gordonstoun provided the speech and article as “useful background information and illustrate what the Prince of Wales has already said about Gordonstoun in the past”.

But she added that they “do not comment on individual alumni experiences.”

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