Why King Charles could never ‘stand up to his father’

King Charles had to go to a tough childhood when it came to his father Prince Philip.

His Majesty, who is currently under treatment for cancer, experienced a tricky relationship as a child with the former Duke of Edinburgh.

In the book My Mother and I, royal expert Ingrid Seward reveals: “The Queen, being averse to confrontation of any kind, would go along with whatever Philip decided, and Charles, unlike his feisty sister Anne, did not have the personality to stand up to his father.”

She continued: "As a child, the sensitive and shy Prince Charles was reduced to tears when upbraided by his father for some aspect of his behavior. And it was not only when correcting Charles that Philip brought tears to his son's eyes—he would often belittle him in front of guests."

She added that people thought the "rough and bullying way in which the father addressed his son in public, which had the effect of driving Charles more and more back into his shell."