As King Charles III is officially proclaimed at a special ceremony on Saturday following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, the nation has entered a period of reflection and mourning.
After the Queen's passing on Thursday in Aberdeenshire, attentions turned to the events that will occur in the next week in the form of Charles' official proclamation and coronation, as well as Her Majesty's funeral.
Naturally, the history and childhood of the nation's new sovereign has been explored in great depth, including his days as a youth in Scotland and how his experience at a school in Gordonstoun, Moray, left a long-lasting mark on his life.
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The young prince was privately educated at home until he turned nine, as the Record reports, where he was teased about his appearance and reportedly called horrible names. The Queen Mother then argued for him to be sent to Eton, near Windsor and where many of his parents' friend chose for their sons. But the Duke of Edinburgh, who had already tried to toughen Charles up by teaching him to swim and ride, had other ideas.
The heir to the throne would go to his own old school, in a remote part of north-east Scotland, which was founded in the 1930s by a German Jew who escaped the clutches of Adolf Hitler. The Duke of Edinburgh, the late Prince Phillip, was one of its first pupils.
The old 17th century building was surrounded by a former RAF barracks and straight away, Charles struggled to fit in and settle down. In later years, Charles went as far as referring to his time at Gordonstoun as “a prison sentence” and “Colditz in kilts”. His weekly letters home left the family in no doubt that he was miserable. One said: “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.”
Two years in, it had not improved. Another letter said: “The people in my dormitory are foul. They throw slippers all night long or hit me with pillows… Last night was hell, literal hell. I wish I could come home.”
Founder of the school Kurt Hahn, believed in vigorous outdoor activities, especially in the cold bitter winter weather. The boys wore shorts all year round and the day begun with a job before breakfast, followed by a numbingly cold shower. The day was built on a number of academic subjects that involved endless sports.
This had suited the Duke of Edinburgh, who had been captain of the cricket and hockey team. But by the time Charles went to Gordonstoun, it was clear he was not a natural sportsman. One of his classmates said: “Bullying was virtually institutionalised and very rough.”
Charles reportedly discovered a gift for acting and excelled in school productions. Charles got on with members of the opposite sex, as any males seen to be making friends with the new sovereign were picked on for 'sucking up' to the Prince at the time.
One of the most famous incidents from Charles’s time at Gordonstoun happened on the Isle of Lewis. The second years had sailed across the Minch and were taken to a pub in Stornoway. There, the 14-year-old heir to the throne ordered a cherry brandy. Unfortunately for him, there was a newspaper reporter in the bar. The prince’s underage drink made headlines round the world.
“I said the first drink that came into my head,” he explained afterwards, “because I’d drunk it before, when it was cold, out shooting.” It was such a scandal that Donald Green was fired, leaving Charles without one of his closest allies.
Years later, the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh admitted to their biographer that Gordonstoun had not been their best idea. Charles was, they said, “a square peg in a round hole,” and cold showers and endless rugby did not change that.
The future king continued to complain about Gordonstoun well into his 60s – although he did tell the House of Lords in the 70s: “I am always astonished by the amount of rot talked about Gordonstoun and the careless use of ancient clichés used to describe it.” His own sons, however, went to Eton.
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