Prince Philip was reportedly concerned that one particular royal had an “emotional hold” on King Charles. Royal biographer Gyles Brandreth shared that the late Duke had his apprehensions about one of his family members. The late Duke of Edinburgh had “reservations” about his late mother-in-law and Charles’ maternal grandmother, the Queen Mother.
Gyles Brandreth says Philip questioned the Queen Mother’s emotional influence over his son
Royal biographer Gyles Brandreth revealed in his book “Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait” that Prince Philip was not particularly impressed by the Queen Mother’s emotional impact on King Charles.
As reported by Marie Claire, Brandreth formed a close bond with the late Duke of Edinburgh after working on charity projects together. Brandreth asked Philip his honest thoughts on his mother-in-law, to which he said: “She certainly keeps going.” The late royal revealed this bit of information to the biographer at the time of her 100th birthday in August 2000.
Brandreth shared that Philip was less enamored by his mother-in-law, particularly due to the emotional hold she had over his son, Charles. The royal biographer wrote: “Prince Philip had reservations about his mother-in-law, in part because he knew that members of her family had reservations about him in the 1940s.”
He added that “largely” the issue was that Philip “felt she had an emotional hold over Prince Charles ‘that’s not always been to his benefit, in my opinion.’”
Author Gareth Russell echoed Brandreth’s views and discussed the Queen Mother’s sweet bond with her grandson, Charles. Russell told PEOPLE: “In some ways, the Queen Mother was a mother figure to Charles just because the Queen became Queen when Charles was so young.”
Continuing further, Russell stated: “There were a lot of tours of the Commonwealth and every time the Queen had to go away, Prince Charles stayed with the Queen Mother. They had a great sense of humor, and she always encouraged him.”
It wasn’t just the Queen Mother’s rock-solid bond with then-Prince Charles but also the differences between her and her son-in-law. As per Brandreth, Philip thought the Queen Mother’s personality was “overdone.”
