Prince Charles rarely received words of affection from his father or attention from his mother, who became Queen soon after he was born.
Being born in the most famous royal household doesn't ensure that you have the best childhood possible. The best childhood is most likely the one where a child feels loved, heard, and cared for. Children who have playmates, stimulation, and parents' attention are likely to feel that they had an enriching childhood. When you are born into the royal family, you are born into privilege but not necessarily affection.
For a young Prince Charles, life was disappointing as a child even when he had three siblings, a future kingship to look forward to, and great privileges. He did not have his parents' love, affection, or ear. Being an heir to the throne, there must have been great expectations from him, but not enough words of love or encouragement were gifted to him. Born on November 14, 1948, to Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, he was separated from his parents for long periods of time due to their busy lives.
Unlike his mother, who had 10 unencumbered years before the weight of being queen fell on her when her father King George VI passed away unexpectedly, Prince Charles was in the public eye right from the start. A 22-year-old Elizabeth was often away from infant Charles on long trips. Still a princess then, she would spend time with husband Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, an officer in the Royal Navy, who was posted to Malta in October 1949. She was present for her first child's first birthday but soon after she was away on foreign trips, as per Vanity Fair.
The little prince didn't know much of his father, Philip, for the first two years of his life since he was away on overseas duty. However, when he returned he taught Charles to shoot, fish, and swim in the Buckingham Palace pool. The man who is first in line to the throne now had opened up to Jonathan Dimbleby, who was writing an authorized biography, about his childhood and revealed that these moments were not necessarily of joy.
Charles was "easily cowed by the forceful personality of his father," whose rebukes for "a deficiency in behavior or attitude . . . easily drew tears," the biographer noted. He also added that Philip was "well-meaning but unimaginative." The Duke of Cornwall was often belittled and bullied by his own father. For his mother too, Charles had harsh words to say. She was "not indifferent so much as detached."
Philip's strict parenting style was not agreeable even for Charles' sister Anne but she brushed away his words thanks to her extroverted nature. Meanwhile, the sensitive prince often felt domineered by his father since he took his words to heart.
The young prince was also at odds with his peers at school since he was the future king. There too, he was often bullied and his father Prince Philip worried that his son was too "soft," according to GoodHousekeeping. The boy was initially home-schooled and then he was sent to Hill House School in London, then Cheam. Here, he would be often teased for his "protruding ears" and called "fatty prince," as per Vanity Fair.
Eventually, Philip took matters into his own hands and sent Charles to his alma mater, Gordonstoun in 1962, to "build his character." There are contradicting claims about how well a time he had at this school. As per Season 2 of the show The Crown, he had a terrible time at this school in Scotland.
"It [Gordonstoun] was only tough in the sense that it demanded more of you as an individual than most other schools did — mentally or physically. I am lucky in that I believe it taught me a great deal about myself and my own abilities and disabilities," he once said in a speech, as per Telegraph. There are other accounts of him calling the school "absolute hell." He is often bullied even now by the press but as a 71-year-old man, he has had years of time growing a thick skin against those barbs.
He had come into his own when he went to college and met Camilla Shand (her maiden name). It was unfortunate that his family didn't allow for their union in the first place and he married Lady Diana, which later led to a very public and messy divorce. Diana's death has also weighed heavily on the British royal family, especially Charles. However, almost a decade after she passed away he married his longterm love Camilla and the couple looks happier than ever.
References:
https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2017/03/the-isolating-boarding-school-days-of-prince-charles
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/a22749353/prince-charles-young-camilla-diana/
