"Prison sentence"

Scathing report card for King Charles’ boarding school

Britain's Prince Charles (C) arrives with his father Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (L) and Scottish businessman Iain Tennant on his first day of school at Gordonstoun School in Elgin on May 1, 1962.

(Bild: APA/AFP/PNA)

King Charles described his time at the school as a "prison sentence": An investigation into mistreatment and abuse at the Scottish boarding school Gordonstoun has issued a damning report. 

Many children who were housed at the boarding school and its facilities were at risk of sexual, physical and emotional abuse, according to a summary of the report by the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry.

"Extremely violent culture"
Until the early 1990s, there was a "terribly abusive and, in some homes, extremely violent culture" caused by poor leadership, the report published on Wednesday said. A number of teachers had committed sexual assaults on female pupils, including rape. There was also a culture of silence. Sexual offenses also frequently occurred among the children. Some girls had entered into relationships with older boys in order to be protected from assault.

A building at Gordonstoun School

(Bild: APA/AFP/Andy Buchanan)

Attempt to improve the situation
The situation has since changed for the better, the report continued. There had been a sincere apology. "There were periods in Gordonstoun's history when abuse was normalized for decades. However, it seems clear that some good leaders have tried to improve the situation over the past 30 years or so," the chair of the inquiry, Lady Anne Smith, was quoted as saying.

Gordonstoun was founded by German educationalist Kurt Hahn, who had previously put his concepts into practice at Salem on Lake Constance. Charles' father Prince Philip, who had spent a year at Salem himself, followed the pioneer of experiential education, who was persecuted by the Nazis, to Gordonstoun in 1934 and also sent his son there.

Earl Spencer abused
Abuse did not only occur at Gordonstoun. In his memoirs "A Very Private School", Princess Diana's brother Charles Spencer also reports being sexually abused by a member of staff at boarding school when he was eleven years old. Earl Spencer, as he is known in the UK, is now 60 years old and describes in detail how he was beaten and sexually assaulted at Maidwell Hall boarding school.

According to Spencer, the staff member took advantage of the fact that he and other boys were desperate for female attention and affection. When he feared she would leave the school, he reacted with self-harming behavior.

According to the BBC, the school was concerned. The authorities had been called in, it said in a statement. However, every aspect of school life has changed since the 1970s. "At the heart of the changes is the safety of children and the promotion of their welfare," the BBC quoted from the statement.

Spencer, who works as a journalist, is best remembered for his harsh criticism of the royal family at the funeral service for his sister. Diana died in a car accident in Paris in 1997. She is buried in the grounds of the Spencers' mansion, Althorp House, in the county of Northamptonshire in central England.