Prince Philip has been described as "resilient and flexible" by a leading parenting expert, with those traits passed on through the generations.
The Duke of Edinburgh, who died in April 2021 at the age of 99, would have been 101 on June 10 and his parenting skills have been analysed by Angela Karanja, the founder of Raising Remarkable Teenagers.
From stressing the importance of the environment among other things, Philip was seen as a progressive parent for his generation.
Karanja took a look at how his parenting skills had an impact on Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, reports Express.
She said: “Prince Philip was definitely a progressive man for his generation. This is a quality typical for people who have undergone major childhood difficulties.
“They embody resilience and flexibility not usually understood by many. The disposition of his Royal Family from the throne and having to start a new life in a different country and also having to go and study in Scotland alone are examples. All this happened in his early formative years.
“But intertwined with these positive outcomes is trapped trauma, which is usually passed on from generation to generation unless one person decides to take deep penetrative reflection.
“Adverse childhood experiences that are processed positively can build resilience, flexibility, and open-mindedness.
“These are definitely qualities Philip possessed. When a parent is resilient and flexible, they are able to easily model these qualities to their children. I don’t think Philip had a choice in being sent to boarding school.
“Now had he really reflected and assessed how he felt about having no choice in this decision and whether he enjoyed his boarding school, maybe he would have given Charles an opportunity to speak his feelings about his experiences there and then together come up with a plausible solution.
“He obviously taught Charles to endure because he himself endured. Resilience is a great skill, but it doesn’t have to be developed in suffering.”
Prince Charles was sent to Gordonstoun School in Scotland, which was the Duke’s former school as well. Although Philip thrived there, Charles was known to have hated his time there.
Angela commented: “Like many parents, I would say Philip followed and only did what he knew best.
“There’s a tendency for human beings to subconsciously think ‘I went through this and I’m alive and OK, so it must be ok for my children, they should cope as I didn’t die’. We forget that our children are their own person – independent human beings. They may not cope as well in the same circumstances we did, or they might cope even better.”
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