King Charles once misbehaved in public, causing a security guard to lose his job.
HIGHLIGHTS
King Charles attended boarding school at Gordonstoun to “toughen up” and gain his father’s approval. He spent five years there and maintained a close relationship with his sister, Princess Anne.
On a school trip at age 14, Charles broke the law by drinking cherry brandy at a bar, despite being four years under the legal drinking age. A journalist spotted him and the story made national news, resulting in his bodyguard losing his job.
Despite the incident, the Crown Hotel in Stornoway invited Charles back to celebrate his ascension to the throne after the Queen’s passing, acknowledging his past underage drinking at their bar. It is unclear if Charles accepted the invitation.
One thing about life in the Royal Family is that they don’t like to be seen putting a foot wrong, especially out in public. Everything is expertly organized down to the finer details, including ensuring everything happens at the exact time it is supposed to without a single hitch.
However, one person who could have put all of this into disarray was none other than King Charles himself. When he was a young boy on a school trip, he ended up breaking some rules. Unlike the times Meghan Markle, for example, broke royal protocol, Charles also broke the law. These actions were so serious that his personal security guard ended up losing his job because of it.
King Charles Attended Boarding School At Gordonstoun
When he was younger, the then Prince Charles attended Gordonstoun, which is a boarding school for children all the way from the age of 4 through to 18 years old. Charles spent his latter school years there and was at Gordonstoun for a total of five years.
Part of the reason why he was sent here was that his father, Prince Philip, believed that he needed to ‘toughen up’, a revelation that was made in Charles’ biography. With Charles wanting to gain his father’s approval, and Philip believing Charles’ sweet nature was a sign of weakness, he was sent to Gordonstoun to change that.
Charles attending school was also a change for the Royal Family, as traditionally, the heir apparent would be privately tutored at home as opposed to going to school. But clearly, his parents felt that this was what would be best for him.
He even managed to maintain a close relationship with his sister, Princess Anne, while he was there; a relationship that still remains close to this day.
Charles Drank A Cherry Brandy While On A School Trip
Going on school trips can be an exciting time for anyone, especially if that trip is an overnight one. Even though he attended a boarding school, the thought of being able to go elsewhere with his friends was likely an exciting time for Charles.
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However, there was one part of this school trip that was taken a little too far. At the time he was only 14 and there was a range of different ages on the trip with him. At the time, the plan was that everyone on the trip would have dinner at the Crown Hotel at the Isle Of Lewis before they would then go on to watch a movie at the Stornoway Playhouse.
Despite these plans, Charles and his group of friends had other ideas.
While they were still at the Crown Hotel, the older guys he was with decided they wanted a drink at the bar, so Charles decided to join them. However, in the UK the legal drinking age is 18, and with Charles being four years under the legal limit, many would think he would be unable to buy a drink.
It’s not known whether Charles ordered the drink himself or if the older boys he was with did it for him, however, he was still able to drink his drink of choice, which was a cherry brandy. He reportedly chose this because the only other time he had had alcohol was when the Queen had given him some of this previously before he went out hunting.
This clearly wasn’t the best move as he shouldn’t have been drinking at that age, however, what made the situation even worse was that there was a journalist at the same bar as him, who spotted him drinking this cherry brandy.
As the journalist had witnessed this happening, this ended up being printed in the newspapers pretty quickly. At the time, Buckingham Palace strongly denied the story and said it had never happened, but it soon came to light that it was the truth.
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As he was accompanied by a bodyguard on this trip, the fact that Charles had been drinking and this had made national news, resulted in the firing of his bodyguard as the Queen was unhappy with the turn of events.
King Charles Was Eventually Invited Back To The Bar Of His Youth
Having previously wrongfully gifted Ozzy Osbourne with a bottle of whiskey, it could also be thought that Charles might enjoy a little drop of whiskey. While he does apparently enjoy a drop of whiskey from time to time, he’s not often spotted in public bars.
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However, the Crown Hotel in Stornoway did invite Charles back to celebrate his ascension to the throne after the late Queen’s passing, though it’s not clear whether Charles took them up on the offer. At this point, the Crown is not embarrassed to promote the fact that a then-underaged King once sipped cherry brandy at its bar.
